Recourse of the Bow Hero
by Pretty Lazy
Summary: Itsuki Kawasumi was corrupted by the very justice he strived for, only being broken out of it thanks to the Shield Hero. When he loses his life in battle, he finds himself returning to the point where it all began. This time, Itsuki made a resolve. He decided that he won't be controlled by his selfishness and ideology again, but the world isn't so kind for it to be easy.
1. Rebirth of an Ideology

**Chapter One : Rebirth of an Ideology**

* * *

—I don't understand.

—_I don't understand._

—Where did I go wrong? Why did everything turn against me?

Somewhere in my heart, I already knew the answer. I didn't like it—it was ugly, and I turned to look away. I chained it up with an endless length, and pushed those imprisoned words down to the depths of the dark abyss, but I was blind. I couldn't see nor ask myself why such a chasm existed within my soul.

What was justice? What was the entire meaning of using the terminology?

I didn't even know the response to the question anymore. The phrase that I'd use from one end of the continent to the other. To act in the name of justice and to punish all of the evildoers present on the land, that was what I'd strived for. To take down those who challenged the law, and eliminate those who were of wickedness.

—Who am I trying to fool now?

—I don't remember who I was even talking to.

—I don't remember who I was fighting.

It hurts so much. The pain growing in my heart crept out from within. I whimpered out a quiet voice, unable to even move a muscle. Even if my body had its strength, perhaps it would have been better to have stayed down. I was on the wrong side most the time anyways. Barely anyone would miss me if my life slipped away now.

—_Dammit._

Why did it happen this way? How could the very ideology that I cherished turn its back on me?

I knew the answer to that as well. I felt my soul shiver as I muttered my lasting words.

—I was too naive.

When I woke up in this world, I thought it was a dream come true. My only escape from my awful life had been within the games. The only light in my life had been a bunch of ones and zeros. I would spend as much time as I could, relaxing in this false world and do what I truly wanted to do. Even then, some things wouldn't go the way I wanted it to and that entire day would be spent on a waste.

Outside, I was nothing. Ignored by my peers, assaulted by the upperclassmen, untrusted by the adults that were supposed to be my parents. I hated it all, and I couldn't do a single thing about it. I couldn't breathe in that atmosphere, eventually digging a continuous rut that never thought about ending once. I could only trust the world of games, and the community that spawned behind them.

However, games must have given me a false hope for my reality. I wouldn't have any explanation why I hadn't taken my own life by then.

I recalled my earliest memories of this so-called justice. They were online players who liked to help out other weaker players and punish the player-killers or scammers. They were idolized by this game's playerbase, and I was no different. Praises were sent over to their way constantly, even when they weren't on active duty. I looked onto the spectators and applauders as I realized the empty feeling in my heart.

I couldn't remember the last time I've been praised before, reality or gaming.

I spent that night trying to grab any bits of praises that I could have received in my lifetime, but surely enough, I was deprived of it. Like a weed among a flower field, I must have been the only one to feel this way.

That's why I wanted to learn what this 'justice' was. I wanted to make acts of this 'justice', so that I could feel what it's like to be liked by your peers, respected by your upperclassmen, and acknowledged by the adults I called my parents.

It never worked once.

I remember one time where I noticed a guy getting beaten up by the same upperclassmen who would lash out on me. They've found a new victim for their rotations. Of course, I was trembling in my feet, but 'justice' required you to have a heart of steel. I ran in to try and protect the victim, obviously getting my ass kicked in the process. I contributed nothing as they still hit the person I was trying to protect, but I thought about the the pain that was spread across two bodies instead of the single one. I thought it was fine. When the bullies had left, I looked over to my peer to had been struggling to stand up straight.

He opened his mouth, wiping the blood on his cheek.

_You're an idiot. You only made them angrier._

I was in a dismay. I didn't understand. Was this not what was justice was?

Where was my praise? Where were the words I yearned for?

It was a rainy day, as the water patted against my idle face. I laid there for minutes, maybe even an hour, yet no one bothered to even come to ask if I was alright. I wouldn't even been able to answer if they were people though. My mind had been consoling my shattered heart. My eyes pointed up to the grey skies as the quantity of drops seemed to increase by the second.

_Huh. I forgot... my umbrella._

The water was freezing. I was probably going to get a cold if I stayed any longer, but I couldn't find the might in me to sit up. I simply allowed the raindrops to slam against my skin and clothes.

I discovered a conclusion after thinking there for so long.

I didn't have power. Unlike the players on the server, I didn't have the strength to follow through the ideology. They had the gear and stats to display punish and aid to those worthy of each. I was simply me, a boy that couldn't change his life even if he tried, and nothing could change that. The word justice had been practically meaningless in my hands. I could throw that word around for my entire life, and I would not come close to finding what I wanted.

The rain… It wasn't letting up, was it?

My one hope of an ideology, axed before it could even start.

My body had been soaked, let alone my uniform. I needed to get home as quickly as possible before my parents got angry with me. Rather, I should have said angier than usual.

My steps were heavy, as I trudged along the sidewalk. Deep puddles had already been formed on the road, and the world seemed so nice to allow a car to drive right onto it, spraying me with the murky shower. I couldn't even care anymore. My vision had already been blurring. I was losing sight of what was ahead of me. My questions started to flood my mind.

Was it wrong for me to want to feel special?

Was it wrong for me to want to be praised?

And then—

—I couldn't feel my arm.

—I couldn't feel my legs.

—I couldn't feel my entire body.

A truck had swerved from the wet road and into the sideway. I don't ever recall the truck driver honking his horn to warn me, but if he did, I wouldn't be able to hear. Even if I saw the truck sliding over to me, I may have simply stood there.

—I wanted to die.

—Let me have a life where I can have the strength to exert this 'justice'.

—Let me have a life where I can be praised for my actions.

And I did. And I'll beat up all of the evildoers that existed on this land. And I had the chance to be praised for the justice that my strength could now support.

_But I lost that chance, destroying it with my own hands._

_For great power could dictate a great justice, but with great power came with a great responsibility. _I realized that much too late.

There was somebody trying to call for me as I laid limp on the ground. Their hands were shaking my body as their figure came into my sights. I couldn't make out their image clearly, but the posture that they took up. I must have been in their arms, but I couldn't remember who it might have been. I tried my hardest to see past the natural filter of unconsciousness, but I came to no avail. How much blood did I already lose?

"_Itsuki-sama… Itsuki-sama...!_"

That voice… It was familiar. It tortured my soul to not be able to remember who this person was. I flipped through the possible names of people that could be in this person's position right now, but other than the three other heroes, I couldn't grab a single name. The pain that was devouring my body had been stopping me from thinking any further.

I sheepishly chuckled, considering that I had nothing else to do. There was nothing else I _could _do, just like how my original life went. I was never in control in my own life, not even in the world that was waiting for the four heroes to take the stage.

—_Huh? Rain?_

I didn't ever recall the battle having such grey clouds for it to start raining, but I couldn't even confirm it for myself. The world around me had gone dark, fading into the abyss I never knew existed until my justice was taken away. Yet for some reason, I spent the remaining flames in my heart to muster up a fitting ending. I didn't understand the words, but I felt like they were the right things to say.

"_I'm… sorry… for everything..._"

My eyes slowly closed as my last few breaths escaped me for the second time in my memory. My chest slowed down, as the feeling in my body ceased to exist, as if I was beginning to float out of the physical land.

"_I'm… sorry…_"

What was the definition of justice? Was this the justice that I deserved in the end? For everything I did?

—_I never understood it_.

* * *

"Oh, Greatest Heroes! Please lend us your strength and save our world!"

I blinked. Those words were familiar like a fleeting dream.

My mind must have been making a delusional mess of myself again. I had to double take my surroundings to check out what was actually happening, but none of it registered with me yet. I grabbed the strains of my head in a confusion, trying to remember everything that happened so far. There was nothing about returning to a castle, but my memories were a blur. Perhaps that could have happened, but as I turned to my right, I begun to believe that it wasn't the case.

The Spear Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura.

The Sword Hero, Ren Amaki.

… The Shield Hero. Naofumi Iwatani.

They were all stationed, standing next to each other's side. All three of them were visually confused as I was, so I was thankful that I wasn't the only one who had been out of the loop.

"Ren, what's going on?" I asked the Sword Hero who had been directly adjacent to me. "Why were we called back to the castle?"

"Huh?" Ren had looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you know my name? I don't ever recall meeting someone like you."

—_What? That wasn't funny, Ren._

As I took a closer look at the lined up heroes, there was something I missed the first time I glanced at them. Their polished amoursets, clothing, and in Motoyasu's case, various accessories, had all been missing. Even their legendary weapons had been reseted to their default. All they had were their normal clothing that seemed like it was ripped from their respective worlds. Nothing about their outfits screamed that they were living here for years on end.

My hand instinctively placed itself on my own clothes. To much of my surprise, I had reclaimed my old uniform somehow. The oddest thing about this was that I could have sworn I've outgrown this—

My eyes darted back to the bow I held in my hand, and they twitched as they caught the sight in full unexpectedness. I didn't have the same weapon that I entered the battlefield with anymore. It reverted back to the default setting.

I rapidly open up the game-like menu, trying to find the information that should have been listed there.

—_Level 1._

—_Stats had been correlated appropriately._

—_However, all the bows I've unlocked had remained._

I found myself staring nervously at the screen.

What exactly was going on? I know that I went into battle, and I know that I died during a fight alongside the other Heroes, so why was I back here of all places!? The altar, the summoning circle, the people who were looking you us with expecting eyes. It's like I've—

—_traveled back in time._

"Save your world?" Motoyasu asked, to reaffirmed. "Is that what you asked?"

"Yes." The robed man who loudly requested this of us bowed his head. "There are various complications regarding your situations, but we have summoned you four as the Heroes that will save our world. It is teetering on the edge of destruction, so I beg of you four on behalf of the kingdom! Lend us your strength!"

The other three had been in a disbelief of what they were witnessing, while I stayed quiet. I closely paid attention to everything that was happening instead. I remember being told that I wasn't using my head at all when it came to problems like these and that caused me to jump to conclusions I created. Time to heed those words.

Though, if I was honest with myself, I would probably say that I was at a complete consternation to say anything at all. My mouth hadn't even bothered to close after dropping to what seemed like the ground.

Naofumi was the first to talk. "I guess it won't be too much—"

"What if I refuse?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to pass."

The robed man looked up from his begging position in a shock from the responses that Ren and Motoyasu had given, overwriting what Naofumi was going to say. Their attitudes had definitely been the same as they were in the beginning, but their excitement could still be sensed underneath those bluffed words.

It felt like only yesterday when I felt the same way.

"Don't you two think you're being too harsh? Let's hear the guy out to know the situation better, at least."

Ren and Motoyasu looked to me as I spoke. They eventually nodded in agreement, as the logic was rather sound. It was important for me to reaffirm what was happening anyways, to make sure that my guess was correct. Naofumi gave a light-hearted smile to me, as that was what he was probably thinking as well. He just didn't say it, but that smile stabbed a wooden stake into my heart.

To think that Naofumi had such an innocent smile before.

"Well, we'll have you speak with the king. He'll discuss with you for whatever you need to know and possible compensation for your troubles."

The Heroes nodded, but I kept my straight face.

If I remembered correctly, it was the king of Melromarc and his daughter that sent Naofumi spiraling into his initial downfall. However, I couldn't say anything conclusive yet. I decided to simply follow the lead of the others, pitching in comments every so often, just as I've done before.

The hallway to the king's chamber appeared to be smaller than I remembered, but the light shining from the windows had been a pleasant feeling on the skin. As we walked as a group, I looked over to Ren, whose gaze I felt peering backwards.

This was no good. He didn't forget about the fact I knew his name somehow, but maybe it was. I'm not too sure, but I'll have to let it go for now. He'll be either curious or wary of me after our meeting with the king. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Motoyasu was leading the group, let alone the man in the robes. If this was reverted Motoyasu, then he was as much as a lady-lover like before. It's kinda odd seeing him not look at women with disgust in his eyes, but I didn't know which one I preferred more. With the king's plan, Motoyasu's blind eye had been used as the core pawn in trying to deflect the Shield Hero as an enemy, so I'll need to look out for that. If only my mind bothered to remember the details of such formulations, then I would know what to look for specifically.

And then there was Naofumi, the Shield Hero in question. A mixture of compassion and bitterness arise every time I see the man, not to his own fault. He had simply did what had to be done, and I should be thankful it ended the way it did.

We arrived at the king's doors as the man in the robes opened it up. At the other end of the room, the king sat comfortably in his throne. I believe Naofumi referred him to Trash whenever he talked about the king.

"So you are the Heroes?" the king asked us as we stepped forwards into the columned decorated area.

"Yeah, and you're the one that wanted to summon us?" Motoyasu asked, almost defiantly. "What is it that you want us to do? Surely, you're not expecting for four randomly selected people that you pulled out to do your work for you? That kinda seems sick and twisted."

"I wonder how much you've considered the situation for us on our side," Ren added in with an layered hostility. "If you're not careful, we might actually turn on you."

—_Ah, I remember the reason why they were acting this way, despite them being excited._

"Allow me to introduce myself, Heroes. I am Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, and I am the king that rules these lands." He remained on his throne without budging an inch, as his hand stroked his white beard. "I'll tell you of what the situation is for us to resort to a summoning such as this."

As the king explained the nature of the waves and how the world was on a pathway to destruction, I couldn't help to immediately question what was being told. It made have been due to their lack of knowledge as such a force, but the true reasoning behind the waves of calamity was—

—_Huh? I… I can't remember._

It was inexplicable. I knew that what the king spoke of was false, perhaps not to his fault, but I couldn't find a proper replacement for the explanation.

—_Dammit, what exactly was going on!?_

"I don't see how this has to do anything with us," Ren announced. "If your world is being slowly gutted by these 'waves' you speak of, then explain to us why _we_, as residents of other worlds, have any obligations to save it."

"This kinda sounds like you're expecting us to work under you with a chain around our necks," Motoyasu added. "It doesn't exactly bring the best of persuasion to our side."

"Those two have a point," Naofumi continued. "I'm more concerned with if there's a safe way to get back home or not."

The king kept silent, blankly staring at the Heroes who were more or less cool with the situation, as they were trying to suppress their smiles, but acted in such a unrelenting mannerism. Though, I understand the reasoning.

I opened my voice to drive the point across. "Simply put, we're not going to do this simply because you summoned us and gave an entire speal that you need our help. That would be free manual labor, and I'm rather sure that everyone here is against that idea." The three other Heroes nodded to my neatly-worded aggression.

The king turned to the person standing besides, as it to whisper a few lines of dialogue, before glancing back at the four Heroes lined before him. "Very well. We will make proper compensations for your efforts, and as the Heroes of our land, you should focus on becoming strong. Therefore, we will consider your financial positions and provide with whatever you need, if we can get our hands on it."

I saw the three others pump their fist to each other, as they succeeded in trying to get the best start possible. The negotiations were complete, though in my case, they were probably useless. Nevertheless, I grinned to see the group had been acting old friends, knocking my fist against the hands that raised to me.

"Alright," Motoyasu said with an overwhelmingly boisterous attitude, "I guess we could spare some time then."

"As long the promise is kept, I'll help out," Ren said, crossing his arms.

Naofumi and I made shorthanded comments, basically adhering to what Motoyasu and Ren had said.

"Now, please introduce yourself, Heroes."

To the king's command, Motoyasu was the first to make his stand.

"My name is Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm 21 years old, and I'm a college student."

Ren followed up with his own simple introduction.

"Ren Amaki. I'm 16 years old, and I'm currently a high school student."

I looked to Naofumi, and silently nudged the air to let him go next. I remembered that the king had cut Naofumi's introduction off before he could say it, as the three other Heroes had already went. If I go last, then there would be no reason to stop his words.

"I'm Naofumi Iwatani, and I'm 20 years old. Like Motoyasu, I'm a college student as well."

It was my turn to introduce myself. I took a small step forwards, placed my hand on my left breast as if it was a pledge and I spoke the words I wanted to say. My eyes burned through the man sitting in front of me. I will solidify my ideology that has renewed and to not waste the second chance I've been given.

"I'm Itsuki Kawasumi, 17 years old—"

With this, I'll make everything right. I won't let my naivety control me.

"— **I'm a hero and ally of justice.**"

And that started with taking down the first major problem.

I don't remember why he hated Naofumi, and I don't recall what the plan was in detailed pieces, but I knew I had to do something before it was too late. This time, I won't do it for the praise, nor will I share my pride and accomplishments with the people. A mission I decided to undertake that'll make a clear divergence in the timeline, but it needed to be done. I gripped the silver bow that was a part of me tightly.

For the king was corrupt, therefore he was the enemy of justice.

—_The assassination of the king of Melromarc._

* * *

**Afterword**

I've recently found this series thanks to all the buzz about the anime, and I was really liking this series. I eventually stumbled across a fanfiction call "Redemption of the Sword Hero" by Zikari8, which I discovered to be a deviation of "Reprisal of the Spear Hero", an official spin-off. From what I've seen from the collection of fanfictions, this was the only one of its kind— placing a hero in Motoyasu's position of time reversal. I found myself liking Reprisal more than the original timeline.

There was only one hero that hasn't gotten the spotlight yet.

Thus, we have "Rising of the Shield Hero", "Reprisal of the Spear Hero", "Redemption of the Sword Hero", and now, I presented "Recourse of the Bow Hero."

Let's be honest. Itsuki was insufferable. That's why I took the liberty to change up his backstory and some of his attitude, while trying to retaining the nature of Itsuki's character. (*tries not to laugh*). I wanted to change how Itsuki went about things in his mind, since it wouldn't be interesting to have a story from a perspective of someone who was the definition of words justice, praises, and ego rolled into one item.

However, I will try and approach this how Itsuki would try and go about things normally. He's not a perfect character because of the time reversion, and he'll go about things his way, even if it's not really the best way to handle things.

I won't be too well-versed in the web novel, (but I'll be trying to catch up on all the chapters) so I'm going to try and match up to the end of the first major arc. You can say that the combination of all three previous works influenced the production and existence of Recourse of the Bow Hero, so if you haven't checked it out, look to Zikari8's "Redemption of the Sword Hero" _and tell him to update, for the love of God._

I'm pretty lazy to continue anymore, so I'll see you later.


	2. Blurred Lines

**Chapter Two : Blurred Lines**

* * *

"I can't believe you actually said that. What the heck went though your mind during your introduction?"

Naofumi looked at me, while I sat on the couch. Motoyasu had been lying down on the bed, checking out the new menus and status screens that they were taught about from the ministers after introductions had finished. Ren sat to an adjacent seat, fiddling around with the same thing. From what it looked like, Ren was taking this more seriously than Motoyasu, trying to studying up on all of the mechanics that he could possibly get by himself. He expertly swiped through everything quickly, nodding to himself as he went on. That was Ren being him, as usual.

—_No, saying that would be incorrect. It would be more better to say 'like before'_.

I bent my spine forwards, clasping my hands together. Naofumi had his own menu too, but he was more focused on making light conversations as he chuckled. I had my menus out too, though it was probably due to everyone else's presence. I really didn't need to understand something I already understood.

I still didn't have a firm grasp on my situation, and announcing that I was an ally of justice back in the throne room had been a slight error. It was my intention to be an ally of justice this time around. Though, I really had meant to say a highschool student, but I suppose my mind had different ideas.

I don't know what came over me.

"I wasn't thinking," I responded back. "Though, I supposed it did bring some relief to the crowd to know that there was an 'ally of justice' in the group of heroes."

"Relief? Their faces twisted when you retracted your introduction back to a normal highschool student like Ren," Motoyasu jumped in. I looked over to see that he had already made himself at home in this room, propping up his leg over the other and his hand was softly tending to the back of his neck. "I gotta admit. I don't remember ever needing to hold in a laugh that badly before!"

"Well, I thought it was weird at first," Ren said. "When you have the first three supposed Heroes introduce themselves as normal students, then the last one comes out guns ablazing with being an legitimate hero, there's going to be some eyebrow raising for one of the sides of the spectrum."

"There wasn't any harm done by Itsuki though," Naofumi defended. "He said he wasn't thinking. Probably defaulted to some roleplaying from a game, didn't you?"

"That would be a wonder I'd like to see," Motoyasu grinned. "Even the most played MMORPGs don't have many roleplayers nowadays. The players just want play their games and grind away. People only type for battle communications or to do business with the community, but even that is streamlined to pings with can make with your mouse and keyboard shortcuts."

"... Type? Mouse? Keyboard shortcuts?" Ren looked at Motoyasu with a concerned expression. "Motoyasu, I thought you said you were 21 years old."

Motoyasu sat up, closing the menus and returning the stare with furrowed brows. He was just as confused. "I _am_ 21 years old. What brought my age up in this conversation!?"

"Ah, so you're part of the early group that loves the vintage technology," Ren nodded. "I assumed that people only took interest in them once they hit their late years, where the modern games would be too intense for their fragile mind."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're rambling on about, but if you think _Emerald Online_ is an old game, then _you _must be super secluded in your room and the internet alongside having a slow passage of time. It came out only a year ago, and it's been growing ever since!"

"Never heard of the game, and I consider myself a game enthusiastic. Are you sure it's popular? I think I would have heard about it if it was."

Motoyasu turned to us two bystanders of the conversation, pushing himself of the bed to stand proudly. His loud shouting grabbed my attention. "Naofumi! Itsuki! You guys know about _Emerald Online_, right!? Tell him that he has a screw loose in his head or something! No one can call themselves a game enthusiastic and _not_ know _Emerald Online_!"

"Uhm..." Naofumi sheepishly laughed as he feigned his hands up. "Sorry, Motoyasu. I've never actually heard of the game either, though I can't really call myself a hardcore gamer. I play casually. I'm more of a reader than a gamer." He scratched his head before Motoyasu continued.

"Well, you can just depend on your big brother Motoyasu here to help you! This world is basically one big game, like _Emerald Online_! It's quite literally _Emerald Online, _and I'm pretty good at it!" Motoyasu's eyes bounced from back to the original topic at hand after being derailed, as his daggered direction were pointed to me alongside a single finger. "Itsuki! Tell me that _you've_ heard about _Emerald Online, _at least!"

"Wait a minute, Motoyasu," Ren interjected, standing up to confront Motoyasu. "I don't know about you, but this world's more like _Brave Star Online_."

"What the hell's _Brave Star Online_!?"

"I think you're the one living underneath a rock, Motoyasu," Ren rebutted while throwing out his arms. "How could you not know about the pinnacle of virtual reality gaming?"

""Huh!? Virtual reality!?"" Naofumi and Motoyasu exclaimed in harmonizing unison, as the former played in mezzo-piano, while the latter sung in fortississimo.

I clapped my hands in a half-hearted attempt to orchestrate a fermata, which they heeded to. They all turned to the conductor. "You two shouldn't worry about that too much. You two aren't talking within the same level of the conversation anyways," I revealed, making everyone have question marks over their heads. I didn't want the confusion to go on much longer since I already knew the reason for the discrepancies. "Everyone here is from a different Japan, therefore a different world. That's why none of us know your famous game, Motoyasu, and I promise you that the popular game that Ren has in mind doesn't exist in our worlds."

I continued to look over my menu as the room went silent.

—_Ah, I haven't eaten yet. I wonder what they had for nourishment for the Heroes before at the castle. I remember a feast after one of the waves had a good array available. Though, would they bring out the same quality of food on normal days, especially when we haven't done anything yet...? I might need to ask them ahead of time and see what they're willing to make. I think the sandwiches were pretty good, though it's hard to mess them up in the first place._

Naofumi's words grabbed my attention by the ears, dragging them back to the conversation I briefly stood out on.

"Itsuki, don't you think that's a stretch!?" Naofumi asked, deeply dazed by the relatively huge jump in logic. The belief was bad enough to warrant Naofumi to stand from his seat. "It's just games! There's the chance that we're ignorant of each other's area of expertise…. Very, _very_ ignorant," he emphasized.

"You just came to this world too!" Motoyasu supplemented. "Can you even prove what you're talking about is sensical?"

Ren simply looked at me as if I was crazy and went off the deep end, but he held back his personal comment.

If they kept talking to each other about their worlds, they're eventually figure it out naturally. Perhaps I shouldn't have said anything that would perhaps cast a drift between us, but my mouth began to oblige before I had the chance to think. "Alright, I'll prove it." I closed the menu, preparing the final blow that would convince them of my offered explanation and truth. "Everyone. Tell me who Japan's prime minister is right now. All at the same time."

"Masato Yuda." "Gataro Yawahara." "Enichi Kodoka."

Everyone stared at each other, baffled by the the answers that the others had given.

"That settles it," I said. I crossed my arms, as I turn my blankness to a soft, satisfied smile. "It's impossible to have more than one prime minister for Japan at once, right? Yet, we have three different answers."

"What about you? Who's about your prime minister?"

Ren's question threw me off guard. I had thought that it was proof enough to let them these differences, but he had been more perspective than I realized. If I had been summoned next to Naofumi or Motoyasu, there was a chance that Ren wouldn't be on my case this hard since I would have defaulted to asking them where we were, though it was probably in his nature.

—_Had he been this perspective from the beginning? Then how did _we _get tricked by_…

—_Huh? 'We'?_

Grey clouds began to cloud my thoughts. Why did I just consider 'we'? Who did _we _get tricked by?

My initial answer was to say the king who antagonized The Shield Hero, labelling him as a criminal and a demon. The minute I laid my eyes on the king, I knew. That would be the sole reason as to why my first thoughts was to start an assassination attempt on the old man, but something wasn't right. There was no way that after we depart from the castle, the king would be able to do something to us without being noticed, but my memories were telling me that the king was a natural enemy to Naofumi.

Hold on. Why was I thinking about the betrayal against Naofumi? What did that have to do with _us_ being tricked?

It was soon clear that I didn't have the entire story yet. My eyes narrowed onto itself, struggling to keep themselves from breaking out of my skull. However, I didn't let any of my realization and confusion show. I would need to reaffirm this later on when I had time to myself.

—_This lack of memories is proving to be more troublesome than I thought._

In the midst of my dilemma, I ended up telling Ren an honest answer.

"I don't remember."

In my eyes, it must have been a year or so since I ever thought about my previous world. With everything that happened so far, I didn't bother remembering anything trivial from my Japan. Information such as who my prime minister was simply faded into the background, never to be acknowledged again.

—_Ah, that's right. I'm technically not 17 years old anymore._

"Ha?" Naofumi raised a concern. "You don't even know your own prime minister?"

"Sorry, I don't." I shake my head much to the skepticism that Motoyasu and Ren are giving off. I tried to lessen the blow. "If you gave me a list of names that had my prime minister's name on it, I believe I could determine who he was. All I know is that I haven't heard of those names back in my world at all."

"Ah, right. You're still in high school, right? You probably don't care much about politics." Naofumi offered a solution, though it might have been proven redundant since Ren had been younger than me. In turn, I gave my best answer.

"Probably."

"... Probably?" Naofumi was at a loss. I didn't understand what was so shocking, so I nodded and softly reaffirmed his parroted words.

"Probably."

* * *

Since the castle staff offered rooms for each Hero to have their own separate area, we left on our way, diverging our paths to the rooms that had been next to each other. Since Motoyasu had already claimed the bed, we simply allowed him to take the room while we moved ourselves. After say our partings to each other, we went into our rooms.

It was already dark out. The moon was shining brightly as I stood near the small balcony that came with my chamber. If everyone else had done what I was doing, we would have been able to see each. However, it appeared that I was the only one enjoying the night this closely. I believed Naofumi had his balcony doors opened as well, but he wasn't there.

The cold breeze was a refreshing take to my skin as I breathed in the relaxation. This was the calm before the storm, and the day after today would be the prelude to what spirals into Naofumi's descend in the townspeople's eyes. There was something off about this situation that unnerved me.

… Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero.

I _know_ he is going to be betrayed and casted off.

I _don't know_ by who. Rather, I _cannot remember_ who betrayed him no matter how much I amused myself into thought.

If I remembered that I was summoned into this world once, if I remembered falling into my darkness of justice once, if I remembered that I fell in battle after the Shield Hero helped out of it once, then I should have been able to look into the details that bridged the gap between each fragment. Despite the logic, I couldn't. It was blank. I remember Ren, Motoyasu, and Naofumi properly, but I don't remember what happens to each one of them. I don't even remember the majority of what happened to me while I was being consumed by my misinformed justice. To think that a simple misled ideology could result in my fight with...

I hesitated to say the Shield Hero, even though I knew for a fact that he helped bring me out of that darkness.

What did I forget and what did I not know at all?

In any case, it had to do something with this bow I found in my list of branching weapons.

As I opened up my menu against by focusing on the imaginary icon in the bottom left of my vision, I immediately scrolled to the name of the bow that I saw during our conversations that made me raise an eyebrow. This was when Motoyasu was being compassionate about Naofumi's unfortunate class of being a Shielder, as he explained that the classes that had a shield as its primary weapon were garbage. Though, he couldn't be further than the truth. He simply has a rough early game for lack of a better term, in more ways than one.

I saw the name of the bow, but I couldn't take it out to check up on the mysterious weapon at the time. I had no recollection of ever touching this bow, but it might have been due to my broken memories. With all the other bows, I had a good idea of how I could have obtained it, but not this one. Only this one had drawn a blank. Sitting back down on a nearby chair, I summoned the weapon to take shape onto my existing bow, as it took a blacken figure along the limbs, draping it with a golden strained pattern. Of course, the red orb that was with every transformation stayed near the sights. With this, I took a look at what the menus had to say about this specimen.

**Dial Core of the Dragon Era  
equip bonus : none  
passive skill bonus : Temporal Reversion (Alpha)  
passive skill bonus : Resurgence of Recollection**

Now, I have confirmation, but an oddity to assist with it.

The passive bonus must have been the factor that sent me back, so I didn't even need to equip the bow to have its effect. Reading it, I understood what temporal reversion meant immediately. It was a fancier way to say 'time rewinding', but there wasn't anything else that could help me know about this ability. There wasn't anything that referred to it, nor was there any mentions was what it does attached to the skill. It was simply written as Temporal Reversion and that's it, but what interested me more was the word in the brackets.

—_Alpha, as in the first letter in the greek alphabet._

Ah, I remember. If I was referring this world as a game just like how Ren and Motoyasu was looking at it right now, the word 'alpha' had meaning behind it if it was attached to a video game, though I couldn't tell what it implies. Instead of thinking of it as a general sense, it should be—

—_Alpha, the first build of a video game._

Does this mean this is the first version of this skill? Would there be others? Could I upgrade this to further step up the current iteration of this skill? What were the limits of this skill? Was this still active right now? What triggers this skill? There were many things that couldn't be answered.

If it was only the first version, it would probably explain why the skill wasn't entirely perfect. My memories were basically running on loose strings right now.

And so, I looked at the second passive skill, Resurgence of Recollection. Literally translated to normal words would be something along the lines of a resurrection of memory.

I had absolutely no idea what this was supposed to be. What did a resurrection of memory even mean? Since both of them were passives, I couldn't activate them like normal skills to find out what they do. I had to leave that skill alone for now.

Speaking of loose strings, I needed to concern myself with the king's assassination and how I'm going to pull it off. I don't have the numerical stats to be able to perform it off properly, and it'll take a few days to take myself to a point where I can use the core bows that I would need for the bare minimum of the operation. I'll need to level myself again from scratch, but this took too long.

By the time I'm prepared, Naofumi will already be outcasted, but I couldn't simply sneak into the king's chamber in the middle of the night and shoot him between now and there. I scrolled down the menu and looked at the name of the bow I wanted to use.

**Lethal Poison Bow (Level Requirement not met)  
equip bonus : +1% attack damage  
active skill bonus : Lethal Shot**

**Shadow Bow (Level Requirement not met)  
equip bonus : +5% stealth, +5% speed  
active skill bonus : Shadow Boost**

If these bows did what it was advertised on their titles and effects, then I could very well kill the king like this, regardless if I wasn't strong enough. It'll be a slow and quiet death, but a death nevertheless. Even if I can't save Naofumi before his betrayal, I can end the source before it gets too bad—

—_Wait, why couldn't I just tell him about what's going to happen?_

The idea popped into my head, flanking from the front.

If the Dial Core of the Dragon Era truly sent me back in time, then all events will be the the same and cemented in as long as I play the role of what I did the first time around. Naofumi's betrayal occurred outside of my hand, so as long as time coursed through, the event will be inevitable.

Unless I tell him beforehand.

—_However, a dilemma arises._

If I told Naofumi about the betrayal, would Naofumi get as strong as he was before? I remember that he was only able to meet his precious allies from being betrayed, so if I stop that, Naofumi won't get strong nor will he ever meet the same allies again. Though, that's not a guarantee. It wasn't as if I could find them and introduce them to the Shield Hero. I barely remember their faces, but it might be the bow's fault for that. If I warned Naofumi of the betrayal, he could stay as his cheerful self instead of the bleak and brooding Shield Hero he began as. It wouldn't limit where his strength would stop and the four Heroes will possibly be on good terms.

This is what people called a butterfly effect, isn't it? One action will roll into another, and the smallest and simplest of choices can make the greatest change down the road.

Though, it reminded me of the original problem.

The king wasn't the one that betrayed him, as he merely played the loudest for Naofumi's requiem. With the logic I thought about of the king, I thought about the other possible answer. Someone else created the composition, and the king merely read the sheet. Would Naofumi believe me if I simply said that someone was going to betray him, but I didn't know who?

I pointed my bow, back in its base form, towards the opened balcony door, as if to shoot it at an imaginary target. I feel the energy being drawn to create an arrow, attempting to figure out if I can still wield this bow or not.

If I can't see the end, I'll need to fall into a default route and play it safe. I already remember very little about the events surrounding this little story of ours, and if I mess it up even more, I won't be able to determine a good opportunity to kill the king. Hopefully, I'll be able to remember by repeating my possible actions again, though not strictly.

I instinctively fire the shot anyways, like it was natural. It flew across the night skies like a shooting star, disappearing into the darkness.

—Sorry, Naofumi. For your sake and for our righteous justice, I need you to fall to your lowest. This is how we'll defeat the darkness, and this is how we'll win.

—_I'll still need to repay my debt to you, regardless if you are not the same Naofumi that I knew._

* * *

"_Dammit, why did I lose!? There's no way that my justice could lose to such wickedness!"_

_I turned around to hear the screaming emerge behind me. It sounded like a child who had his favourite toy taken away from him. I almost pitied the boy of curly blonde hair, crumpled up along the ground like some puppet that lost his strings. As if there was a spotlight on him, everyone who stood before him had been staring at him. I couldn't label a name to each person where each of their emotions lied differently, seeing the boy collapse on himself like this._

_Though, I was able to recognize one person in the crowd. It was the Shield Hero, so the fallen person in front must be the evil one, right? Despite this, he was the one screaming for justice to be properly served._

_Though, I quietly laughed at his idiotic question. It was easy to know why anyone would lose a fight. If a person loses, that simply meant that they didn't have the power to overcome the person who won. It is basic logic._

"…"

_One girl from the group that was facing off with him stepped forwards toward the boy. __Her hand had a glistering chakram held. Surely, she knew how to use it, but it felt unnatural for her to have it.__ It was as if the original intention was not for her use.__ I couldn't see her face clearly, as her braided pigtails took my attention away. It was such a beautiful shade of green, but that wasn't the point. I didn't know what her plan was. She, alongside her allies, had already won. What was she doing? Was she going to interrogate him now?_

"_Please…" A tear dripped down to the side of her face, falling onto the still ground.__ "Please stop this…"_

"_Not yet…" The boy tried to stand up. His arm was shaking with his weapon held tightly in his hand. His body was beaten up, and it was obvious that he had already lost. There was no reason for him to try. "I'm not done yet! My justice… My justice…! I'll use my justice to save everyone from evil!"_

"_You're mistaken. There is no one justice that exist for everyone."_

—_There was something reminiscent about her voice._

"_It's only the losing side that gets branded as evil, no matter what they were fighting for. That's the harsh reality behind what justice is."_

"_I… I haven't lost yet! I'm not evil! It's impossible for me to be evil! Everyone who goes against me… They're the evil ones, not me!"_

_His glaring red eyes looked to the girl intensely. A single glance could have killed if she wasn't careful, but she wasn't afraid. Not anymore. She was no longer the meek girl that he first met. She changed, all for the sake for the person that saved her in the first place, so that she could save him._

_However, it was hard to look at the boy with a straight face. Even with the strength, his burning eyes had been greatly retracted, weakened by the water it was leaking. His tears were flowing stronger than the girl in front, though he couldn't explain why, yet he tried to keep a strong shell. It was already starting to crack, as his emotions began to be blurred._

"_Putting the blame on others is easy. Pushing people away is easy. It's always easy to spiral down to a dark path where all you know is to point fingers, even without the ideology of justice." _

—_Something about that voice..._

_The girl took all of the steps forwards, closing the distance between the two combatants. The boy simply stood still as the girl came closer to him. It would have been simple to shoot her with his bow at point-blank range, but for all the talk that he did, he didn't move. He didn't even react to her approach._

_What was the girl going to do once she got there? I couldn't tell, but there was somewhere in my mind that knew what she did._

_An embrace. _

_The girl came to embrace him, wrapping her arms over his shoulders. Soon, she was sobbing as much as he was._

"_But, you can still change! No matter what happens, anyone, no matter their sin, can still turn back! I believe in you! You're… the person that saved me after all." _

—_Those words..._

_Her weapon transformed into a flowing light, returning to the bow. The weapon in the boy's hand had been reverting its normal shape. It was as if a huge weight had been taken off. It only took this one moment to shatter the shell he had fortified endlessly and religiously. His mind seemingly struggled to break free, but his body wasn't listening as it stay still. Her voice, hopelessly clinging onto their future, caressed him softly once more, as she nudged through her emotions. _

_I didn't realize that my own arm had been reaching out to the heartfelt scene, trying to grab what was not there. __I wanted to walk up to her, but my feet were frozen in place.__ It kept trying to stretch, but there was no result to come from a meaningless attempt. There was an empty emotion, but it was like something was trying to crawl its way out of my throat. _

"_I'll always believe in you,—_"

— _Who are you...?_

"_**Itsuki-sama**__._"

* * *

I woke up with a fright that morning, but I didn't jump up in a panic. I simply opened my eyes to sit up as if it was a casual thing to do, yet the symptoms of a midnight horror had occurred. I couldn't understand it myself. I was in a state of disbelief.

What nightmare did I have that made me gasp this heavily in the morning? I felt chills down my spine, and my body couldn't stop shaking. I couldn't recall a single thing that happened in the dream that would cause me to act in a frantic state. My mind must have blocked it out subconsciously since it couldn't take it. I held my face, trying to calm myself down and regulate my breathing back to normal, only to find an unusual wet feeling from from my eyes.

I was crying.

— _Why was I crying?_

Because...

I… missed her.

— _Who exactly... was I missing?_

* * *

**Afterword**

Goddammit, I have exams soon! Why am I doing this!? Look, no more updates until the month is over! I really need to study!

Username does **not** check so far!

Alright, memes (kinda) aside and a bit of a longer afterword to describe my plans.

I'm really happy that this was to many people's liking! Thanks to _LunarRin_'s help, I was able to understand Itsuki's character a bit more and I hope to give him the **justice** that he deserves with this boost. However, this boost in information made me wary on whether I was causing Itsuki to go down the OOC pathing or not.

And then this concept came to mind to play the safe game, but an interesting safe game. I supposed I technically didn't make it entirely clear within the first chapter, so this ain't a chapter two retcon.

Thus, you might have noticed the direction I'm trying to take this. This is certainly inspired by "Reprisal of the Spear Hero" and "Redemption of the Sword Hero", but I didn't want to make an simple "Itsuki-version" or a rehash "but with Itsuki" of the two works. If I did, I would feel like I would be cheating him out of an interesting story.

Sometimes, people can pull this off to excellent degree. I am not one of those people. Maybe Itsuki would have had an interesting story if he went down a similar path, but that's not a story I could tell with confidence.

You can see some of the major changes already. In "Reprisal", Motoyasu completely remembers Firo, and attempts to track down Malty [_I'm calling her Malty, screw off_] immediately after meeting the king. In "Redemption", Ren remembers Eclair and his initial party members. In "Recourse", Itsuki gets _none _of that, only the bare minimum. You might see how bad it is if you pay attention to how I word things.

[_Also, press F to pay respects for Rishia_.]

Obviously now, "Recourse of the Bow Hero" will deal with significant alterations and decisions, unseen by the other two timelines of Motoyasu and Ren. Though, the beginning portion might have some already travelled ground being covered, so forgive for that. This is dangerous path of potential OOC, but I'm willing to take the risk. If I do trigger the tripwire, please tell me and mark it up to AU to forgive my transgressions. I'll be using various other anime series to help me out on this, but saying what they are will be a slight spoiler to my plans. I hope this excites you.

(I'm such a tease.)

Anyways, thank you to _LunarRin, Shiranai, Comrade Broseph, Qinlongfei_ for giving a review. It really helps me out to learn what people are liking and what people see as flaws in my writing. It strongly motivates me to work on the next chapter as soon as possible (though this is probably the worst time to motivate me).

Also _Qinlongfei_, I'll be keeping Motoyasu at 21 years old for two reasons. Why? One, I can end the afterword with consistency this time around without sounding like a broken record. Two, I'm pretty lazy to change it back.


	3. Resurgence of Recollection

**Chapter Three : Resurgence of Recollection**

* * *

The sun broke into my room without a glimpse of a knock against the window. I felt the slight warmth creep up onto me as the horizon bared its bright-filled fruit, as I stood before the table which held a familiar scent. According to the castle staff that brought this here, it was an apparent gift from the king. When he said he wanted to deal with our finances as much as possible, he kept his word. It wasn't much, but it must have been a scramble to have these things in order from our sudden demands.

I held onto the rope that was attached to the small verte cloak with a steel shoulder guard replacing the entirety of its right side. As I glanced over to the rest of the attire, consisting of a dried-yellow tunic bordering with padded pants, the nostalgia finally settled in. The king had done the exact same thing for us, and during the first iteration of the event, I thought this was going to be the start of a great adventure—a desire that was derived from my previous lackluster life. Knowing the future only made such a memory bittersweet.

That reminded me of only a trivial topic. Whatever did happen to my uniform during the first cycle?

The green blazer and the grey dress pants that I came into this world must have been thrown away without a second thought. Compared to Motoyasu, Ren, and Naofumi, my clothing had appeared to be more proper and neat. Everyone else had casual wear on when they were called into Melromarc. I wondered whether they had done the same, but that was only an irrelevant topic that did not need answers.

In any case, I'm forced to change out of my old wardrobe. Not only did this clothing fall in comparison to the outfit that was sprawled out before me in comfort, but I didn't carry over the stats I had from the future, though it made some sense (to the extent that time travel makes sense). That meant I needed the equipment to boost my numbers, regardless if I still retained my proficiency with the bow. I've used this weapon for more than a year by now and the current limitations won't halt my core skill.

Leaving my uniform neatly folded where the starting outfit once was, I walked of the room, equipped with my new attire and the Legendary Bow. I closed the door on my way out, but leaving it unlocked. I wasn't going to be returning to the room anytime soon and nothing of valuable was left.

As they informed us yesterday before we left the throne room, we wouldn't be called into the chamber immediately in the morning. They had to wrap up the loose ends that resulted from the summoning and they needed to prepare the adventurers who were willing to brave the journey with the Heroes properly. Whether or not they were actually doing that was a guess, but it was perfect moment given regardless.

I haven't been to the entirety of the castle grounds yet, and if I were to try to plan out any type of assassination, scouting and mapping out the area would be nothing except a benefit. As implied, it meant that I didn't know where the king's personal quarters were, a textbook location of where a noble's death takes place.

As I made my way, mentally taking notes of which path connected up with which hallway in accordance to main landmarks like certain paintings or obviously differing rooms, there were a few soldiers patrolling around as their job dictated. Fortunately, they didn't have a single reason to be suspicious of me and let me go on my merry way. Some stopped me to ask what I was doing, and in a reply, I merely said that I was looking around the castle with the spare time I had. One soldier was kind enough to point out the castle library that had been nearby, and the location of the training grounds that the soldiers often used to spar with one another.

Apparently, that was where Naofumi and Ren were right now, which surprised me. I left the soldier, telling him that I'll be dropping by later if they're still there.

There was no possible way that I could find the king's chamber by asking him, for there was not a logic excuse I could think of that would validate the guiding. Pointing my head into each passing word wouldn't be efficient nor proper either, since it'll make it obvious that I'm looking for something exact. If I was approached, the conversation will eventually reroute itself back to the first reasoning. Though, if it was the king's chamber, the doors must have been well-protected by a constant stream of soldiers.

"Did you hear about the Shield Hero?"

"What about him?"

My ears twitched at the mention of Naofumi, as my eyes locked onto the two castle servants cleaning cleaning the halls.

"From what it sounds like, the Shield Hero has the least experience out of the rest of the Legendary Heroes. To think someone like that was summoned."

"Do you really think something like that is true?"

"That's not the only thing. The unbelievable part is that he's having the other Heroes help him out in learning about this world."

"Aren't the Heroes supposed to be summoned with that information placed into their brains?"

"Apparently, the Shield Hero didn't get the memo, but there's nothing that can be done. We can only rely on the other three Heroes after all."

There was no way they could have deduced that based on the summoning alone. It was unreasonable to link personalities with experience, even for people like them. However, I recalled our vivid conversation from last night, where Naofumi revealed that he wasn't a hardcore gamer and this type of setting was allocated for gamers, with the existence of levels, status menus and what not.

—_Someone… was eavesdropping?_

That was only logical conclusion I made before I walked out of their range of speaking. The King chamber wasn't on the same floor as our rooms, so I went up the flight of stairs at the end of the hall.

This may have been the third or fourth floor, but the windows that dotted the walls had given me a chance to experience the fresh wind. The open capital of Melromarc was always a pleasant to see, and I could see citizens making their way down the streets already. The clock tower in the distance had stood tall, watching the town like a guardian, though it must have paled in comparison to the large-scaled castle.

Footsteps came from the turning corner ahead of me as I kept my calm. I had been expecting another soldier, but the person that I came to face was someone else.

It was a girl, probably older than me by a few years. Her clothing came off as something I expected from her, combining the sleek and simplistic leather dress with a cute subtlety coated around it. I couldn't figure out who she was exactly, by her clothing suggested that she was not a soldier nor was she a servant of the castle. She was not in any proper uniform, nor was it anything close to it. I felt like the answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't spit it out.

—_Did I ever meet a girl with shoulder-length red hair in the future?_

"Ah, you're the Bow Hero!" she exclaimed the moment she laid her eyes on me. There wasn't an instance of hesitation in her words, as she cleanly spoke them like a memorized script. "Your name was… It was Itsuki, correct?"

"Y-Yeah," I said in a staggered surprise. "My name's indeed Itsuki."

"I knew I remembered! You were the one that announced that you were a hero of justice yesterday!"

"I… I don't recall ever seeing you in the throne room," I pointed out. "I think I would have noticed a girl with red hair among the crowd of ministers."

"Well, the conversation about your introduction has been going around the town after all. You're quite the talk of the people, being the bow hero who will fight for the people and strive for righteousness."

My eyebrows raise. "Am I? The talk of the people, huh…?" I quietly chuckled upon hearing it. I knew I needed to keep this assassination on the quieter scale, but if the popularity was easily gained without much to do, I wouldn't mind a little of it on the side. "Even though I followed up with being a normal student instead, I still consider myself a keeper of justice. I've been praised as such in the past."

"Are you now?" Her smile admitted a subtle giggle. "Then, I suppose I'll be looking forwards to your accomplishments. The waves of destruction aren't things that you should take lightly after all."

"Of course. I already know that."

"You do?"

As if my tongue was tied in a knot, I stumbled over my accidental words. I didn't mean to say that extra portion of the sentence, but it felt so natural to say that after experiencing a considerable amount of waves.

"A-Ah, I was talking with one of the soldiers. The topic arose during the conversation," I said, attempting to hide away the truth.

She stared at me like there was an obvious sign that was confessing the sin, but ended up shrugging. I learnt somewhere back in my original world that when someone lies, their body motions differently, so I thought she was trying to decipher my faint movements. As to the reason, I couldn't tell. From a normal perspective, it would have been anything out of the ordinary.

—_It's almost as if being the Bow Hero isn't enough for her belief._

The silent exchange occurred in a mere split second, but it was enough to poke a hole through my chest. "You sure don't waste any time," she continued. "I understand that you're taking on this role seriously. It hasn't been a full day yet, and you're already looking for information."

I scratched my head, while tending to the potential underlying message. If she was referring to the information as my main objective, or some semblance of it, it was a light bluff. I mentally shook my head, telling myself that I was being too paranoid. There was no way she knew what I was trying to do. I didn't even talk about the assassination aloud in my room for her to be able to eavesdrop.

"Well, I just want to do my job right."

—_Even so, why do I get such an unsettling feeling from her?_

Like a eerie ambience behind a light-hearted song, my body started to internally shake and the hairs along it were heightened. The beating of my heart went from a larghissimo tempo to an allegro.

"Ah, you must excuse me," the girl said. "I must get going now, but I'm sure we'll see each other again. Until next time, Itsuki."

Without a second thought, she walked past me, leaving myself to watch her back as her steps disappeared from my ears and her body disappearing behind a corner. For the initiative that she had, she never bothered introducing herself, nor did I remember to ask for her name. Her identity and reason of being here had been another concern.

* * *

It turned out that the king's chamber had been close down the hall from where the girl came from, and as I expected, it was guarded by two soldiers. There did not appear to be an opening, since two more soldiers would switch in with the other two some time. I should mark down a time interval when I had the chance to track it down. If not, it would be fine. On the occasion that I choose to kill him in the chamber, I could try and think of an alternative to sneaking in.

For now, I headed down to the training grounds where the soldier told me I could find my fellow Heroes. As I walked into the field, I could hear the grunting and clashing between steel against steel. I stepped into the warm, natural light that showered the two partners.

"Naofumi, it's important to keep your eyes on movements, yours and your enemy! As the weakest class, but the hardest to kill, you need to keep an close eye on your opponent!"

"Got it! Come at me one more time, Ren!"

Ren dashed forwards towards Naofumi who raised his shield upwards to intercept it. The force behind his blow had pushed Naofumi backwards, but he didn't flinch whatsoever. The blade glide right across his defense, as the tip finally flew off to the bottom, and I noticed Ren's hand immediately twitching. He took a step forwards, and tossed his shoulder upwards, redacting the blade's edge against the side of the shield.

Naofumi reacted substantially. His feet danced around to the side to roll the shield along the edge, all before Ren thrusted forwards. Even if Naofumi took the hit, it wouldn't have caused a serious injury. His defensive stats were much higher than our attack stats. If I double my own attack stat, which was the lowest out of the three remaining Heroes, Naofumi's defense would still trump that.

To get distance between themselves, Naofumi tried to bash the surface into Ren's shoulder pushing him away, but Ren held his ground, bouncing off any attempts with his sword. If Naofumi, for whatever reason, did intend to hurt Ren, he would have no means of doing it. Given the absurd defense, his attack stat was a joke. According to Motoyasu, not even the Shielder class within _Emerald Online_ was as useless as that.

The two Heroes clashed sword and shield in a small skirmish, ultimately ending with Naofumi successfully pushing Ren off his aggression. Ren was already moving like he's been a swordfighter for years already.

"You're getting good at this," Ren chuckled. "If only you didn't have a shield as your weapon, I think you would have been just fine in combat despite your lack of knowledge on these types of games. Though, having the shield does make the playthrough safer."

"Honestly, I don't know if it's a curse or a blessing in disguise that I'm the Shield Hero."

"Movements are still a bit rigid," Ren said as he rolled his shoulder, "both yours and mine. This is obviously nowhere near the level of virtual reality, since my body hasn't adapted to my experience."

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Ren."

"Enough of that for now. I'm coming for one more."

"Try it."

Ren took a single step and seemingly disappeared this time, but all he did was exert all his strength into his legs and pushed, propelling him forwards. As a dust cloud hovered with the air and faded, Ren's sword clawed down on Naofumi's shield. It surprised Naofumi, but he kept calm. Ren tried to assault the shielder from multiple angles, all in rapid succession of one another, but Naofumi was able to match his speed.

As the blade came falling from overhead, Naofumi slammed the shield upwards, reverting Ren's movements to a bouncing halt. If Naofumi was a villain, it would have been easy to attack with the opening Ren was giving, but Naofumi simply converted the chance to crash his body into Ren's chest and pushing him away.

However, the opening was much smaller than Naofumi had expected. Through the single moment of delay, Ren's feet took two paces back and spun around, bringing his sword behind him. He switched up the way he held the sword during the twist, from one-handed traditional to backhand, to keep it out of the way as he swung his right foot over to incoming shield. The kick left Naofumi's body opened as he he stopped before he went further, but it was too late. By the time he could consider retreating or moving back his shield, Ren's blade had returned to the traditional styled grip and the tip was fluttering next to his neck.

Naofumi clicked his tongue, converting it into a deep sigh. "Guess I couldn't stop that one…"

"You read books, right?" Ren asked, as he brought down the sword.

It was as if a question mark popped above Naofumi's head. "Yeah, a good amount? Why do you ask?"

"We have the knowledge of creativity on our side for this world. It's better to treat this as just another game to fight to our utmost limits."

"Aren't there real people in this world though? People that live and enjoy their hobbies like we do?"

"Then that's the one part that we'll have to downgrade on, but for fights, anything goes."

I remembered that Naofumi mentioned that he wasn't a hardcore gamer, so unlike Motoyasu and Ren who had already made themselves comfortable with this world's mechanics, or so to speak, Naofumi still had trouble grasping the situation. Noted that he was fine about the whole summoning ritual, let alone that he was excited for the adventure, but with all the menus and skills dumped onto the Heroes, it was fair that Naofumi had a slow time picking the world up compared to us.

However, I was rather sure that Motoyasu was the one who said he would help Naofumi out in the morning. He was going on how we should treat him like a big brother last night and that he was more than happy to show Naofumi the complex stuff that couldn't be taught using the integrated help menus.

Instead, Ren was the one giving the inexperienced gamer the ropes. I expected the lesson to come from Motoyasu, not from someone like Ren in the beginning. I remembered him being more lonesome than this. Though, Ren looked like he pretty much had the entire combat system mapped out in his head.

I walked out to the Heroes, who noticed my approach. "Good morning, you two."

"Oh, hey Itsuki."

"Morning."

Naofumi and Ren replied likewise.

I noticed the change in outfits that the two Heroes had, similar to mine. Ren's beginning clothing bared a black thematic to it, sporting a short-sleeved tunic that draped over his pants by the two splitted ends and underneath was a long-sleeved linen shirt. In addition, he had black gloves and two detachable shoulder pads on each side. Naofumi on the other hand, received a combination of a leather armour and green cargos. For increased defenses, Naofumi was given a small plate to attach against his chest, yet it wasn't big enough to be called a chestplate.

"Is Motoyasu not here?"

Ren sheathed his sword and crossed his arms, sighing. "Motoyasu said that he would help Naofumi out, yet he sleeps like a rock. I knocked on his door a few times, but each time, I got no response. Either he's in deep sleep, or he's somewhere in the castle and no one knows where he is."

"I am feeling a bit tired from last night," Naofumi smiled. "The idea of going on an story-like adventure kept me up for at least an hour before I could fall asleep. Maybe Motoyasu was more excited than I was and he's reaping what he sowed now."

"I doubt it's for the adventure though," Ren mumbled. "He mentioned that he had a few girlfriends last night, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking forward to the new party members that the king mentioned he'll organize for us. He was probably praying on getting an all-girls party or something."

"Does Motoyasu really come off as that type of person?" Naofumi pondered shortly. After the thought, he nodded as if Naofumi pictured Motoyasu in his mind. "Yeah, I suppose he does look the part."

"I don't think even Motoyasu can argue with that," I added in. "He's a bit… out there."

"Oh, good," Ren exhaled. "I thought I was the only one. He doesn't give off a vibe in which I could trust in, but rather an atmosphere that you can believe in. To be blunt though, I won't lie. He came off as a bit of an asshole. Sure, the shielder class may be the weakest, but he didn't need to rub it into Naofumi's face."

"I think Motoyasu is good person. He was having a blast talking to us last night that if you told me he was deprived of friends, I would…" Naofumi stopped himself from going to far. "Ah, I shouldn't put it like that."

"Well, he was surrounded by girls constantly, a man would need some time with the guys to stay sane," I corrected. This was significantly true in Motoyasu's case in the future. Simply replace the term 'guys' with a bunch of 'filolials and Naofumi'.

"You speak like you know his life story."

"That's…" I scratched my head head, trying to pull myself out of this pit. "It felt like the right thing to say."

—_Hold on._

My mind wandered off the path for a brief moment as Ren and Naofumi conversed among themselves. I stared blankly at them, seeing their mouths talk slowly as a realization sunk under my skin. There was something else I've forgotten yet again.

—_Why did Motoyasu turn out like that?_

The man who had two girlfriends and adored the idea of having an entire party of women by his side ended up becoming someone who couldn't even stand the sight of them excluding filolials and hailed Naofumi greatly in his heart. What was the event that caused him to make such a drastic perspective switch?

"...Itsuki..."

At this point, it was becoming irritating at how much I've forgotten. I've been acting as if I knew about it all this time, but once the topic brushes my brain, I only come to learn that I knew nothing. What was the point of time travelling if I couldn't remember a single _damn_ thing!? My thoughts were all murky and unclear, but I knew it should be there somewhere. I simply didn't know how to clear it up.

"Hey, Itsuki!"

"H-Huh?"

Naofumi was waving his hand in front of my face. "I think you zoned out for a bit. We're planning on getting something to eat. If you haven't eaten breakfast yet, you should with us. Motoyasu will eat when he actually wakes up."

"T-That's sounds like a good plan," I stammered, as my thoughts were stepping outside of my mind. "Shouldn't we try to wake Motoyasu up before we eat though?"

"If you want, you can go do that," Ren responded. "I'm not interested in waking someone up who clearly couldn't wake up in the morning properly."

"In other words, he already tried this morning before we started training."

Ren acted flustered, but his face tried its hardest to hide the blush. He sternly looked to Naofumi in an instant. "T-That's not the problem! If he's the oldest out of the group, then I think he should at least act the oldest!"

I laughed as Ren looked like he was having fun with Naofumi, and vice versa. I couldn't imagine how I was feeling before when Naofumi was betrayed and incriminated by the King. I spitted poison down his way, and forced him to walk a treacherous path, but it hadn't been myself alone. Both Ren and Motoyasu had helped in turning their backs to him, with the latter being the contributing factor.

To think, something I easily done once in the past would be so difficult to swallow down again.

And so, we left for breakfast.

* * *

Twelve adventurers had stationed themselves in front of us. Motoyasu had somehow found the strength to escape his bed an hour before the meeting was called in, and had eaten a healthy, full meal in the allotted time by some means unknown to the rest of us. Ren, Naofumi, and I paid no heed to the antics of the man called Motoyasu.

The king sat comfortably on his throne, watching our entry into the vast chamber. We walked in and as a sign of respect, we bowed before him to show our commitment. This would probably be the last time I ever bow to someone of the likes of him, as I silently glared daggers at my current target.

"Once again, welcome Heroes. As I promised yesterday, I have brought together adventurers who were willing to assist you in your journeys."

"Twelve people, huh?" Naofumi muttered next to me. "That should mean that everyone gets three—"

"Now adventurers. Please choose which Legendary Hero you would like to fight alongside with."

Naofumi's jaw dropped and his voice couldn't hold himself back. "Wait, they choose!?"

"Seems like it," Ren answered.

"Well, we can't expect them to be forced to party up with someone they aren't fond of," Motoyasu added.

"H-huh. I guess that makes sense."

As Naofumi came to the end of his sentence, and an ironic one at that, the lined up adventurers took a look at us and dispersed towards us. There were a few coming over to my direction, but I leered over to Naofumi who was eagerly awaiting for someone to come over to him.

By the time the walking had finished and the center of the room was cleared of traffic, the parties looked to be set in stone. My party was comprised of five people, who can be summarized as a knight, a hooded mage, an axe wielder, a lightweight fighter, and a spear user. I believe I had more companions now than I had in the first iteration. This is way too many people in my group for me to do anything by my lonesome.

I looked over to see that Ren had three people in his party of a good variety, and Motoyasu's group consisted of four members. As I remember, all of them were women, almost attracted to the bishonen air that Motoyasu emitted.

Five plus three plus four had equaled twelve, but there was still one Hero left. Naofumi didn't receive any party members, leaving his group's head count to only himself. Naofumi looked around to the rest of the room, aimlessly seeking out the rest of the adventurers as if there were some bodies hiding from his peripheral vision.

"Wait, are you serious!?" His exclamation sounded the throne room in a distress. "Why am I the only one who didn't get any party members!?"

"The Shield Hero…" The King's eyes said that he was surprised, but I knew that to not be the case. "I never thought it would end it up like this. From I've known, this is the first time such an event has happened, so we allowed the choosing for the longest time."

"My King, I believe I know the reason," the nearby minister spoke up. His attention drew to the elder man. "There has been a rumor that might have played a role in the decisions of the adventurers. You know, I was made aware of a rumor that the Shield Hero is not fully aware of our lands, unlike what the prophecies and history foretold. It appears that people are doubting the validity of the Shield Hero."

"I see. That's rather troubling," the King sighed. The underlying tone felt like he was very uninterested in to Naofumi's problems. There were so many subtle reactions that made it rather obvious that the King does not like the Shield Hero.

I needed to get rid of some people in my party anyways, but it'll be rather difficult. They must have been attracted to my introduction as a hero of justice. The random outburst was playing against me. I cursed myself for saying such a thing.

"Itsuki! You have five people in your group! Can't you simply spare me one!?"

I could attempt in dismissing some of the adventurers, but I could also guarantee that none of them will go by Naofumi's side if they willing left. Despite that, I turned to my party members. I was fine with only being successful in my first objective.

"Look, I appreciate that you five want to fight alongside me and with my cause. However, I'm not comfortable in fighting with a group as large as this. I'm simply going to put that out there. I'll need about two people to switch out of my team, or else you can forget about having a Bow Hero. It's strict, but those are my demands."

I leered over to Naofumi, who smiled back at me. He must have heard what I was telling them.

The adventurers looked at each other, as if they were silently telling each other to be the one that left. However, they didn't want to budge. They honestly wanted to fight alongside the justice I revealed from the start.

—_If only they knew what that justice really meant, they would either be running away or pointing their weapons to me_.

Eventually, the axe user and lightweight departed my team, only to jump boats onto Ren instead of Naofumi. I could hear Naofumi's cries of confusion coming from his soul as they stood by the Sword Hero.

Ren pointed towards Naofumi in the attempts of guiding them to the much needed decision. "Don't you think you should be going over there?"

I couldn't hear what the adventurers said clearly, but Ren sighed, clearly exasperated by the increased amount of bodies. "Fine," Ren growled. I wouldn't say he was unhappy, but he was definitely annoyed by their decision. "However, I won't hesitate to leave you behind if you lack the strength to follow. I usually fight by myself, so you get in my way, you're out of the party."

Through the threat-like syllabus Ren coldly lashed out on them, they held their ground. If he really meant that, he would have gave an ultimatum to push them out of the party like me, but then there was a good chance that the girls would jump over to Motoyasu's side. I already know that Motoyasu didn't have the gall to give another ultimatum as his little harem would only grow bigger. The past Motoyasu had a good heart, but he was very short-sighted and an all-around idiot.

Though, I could have said the same about me.

"Y-You've got to be kidding me…" Naofumi was at a loss for words.

Naofumi's reaction would only be a sane one. Being told that he was the weakest class alongside having no party members to support him spelt out a disastrous fate for him.

Then a single voice raised up from Motoyasu's party.

"Excuse me, sir." One of the girls had turned to Motoyasu. "If it makes you pleased, I could switch over to help out the Shield Hero.

"You're not being forced to do this, right?" Motoyasu asked in confirmation.

"Not at all."

"Then by all means."

She walked out of the group over to Naofumi. It was the same girl I had encountered earlier on the higher floor. She had the same red-shoulder hair and the same outfit on. She was a bit shorter than Naofumi, an easy comparison to be made when she stood in front of him as she extended her hand.

"**My name is Myne Suphia. I'll be looking forwards to working alongside you.**"

_A pulsing memory._

_A pounding migraine._

_A screaming constraint ripping onto my skull._

— _What's going on?_

_'We... now...'_

— _Why is my head hurting so much!?_

_'... charges...'_

— _Huh? There's... a voice?_

_'... Shield Hero!'_

**「****Resurgence of Recollection Activated****亅****  
****「****Memory Fragment Found****亅**

**「****Initializing Recovery****亅**

* * *

"_We will now hear the charges of the Shield Hero!"_

"_C-Charges!? W-What!? I don't understand what's going on!"_

_My body was frozen simply watching the scenery unfold, but it felt light as if I could glide across the air. The contradicting feeling made me slightly nauseous, but I held on._

_This had been the throne room that I was standing in already, but the atmosphere had completely shifted. No longer was it filled with the relief of a new adventure, but it was instead of prosecution. Naofumi was being held down by two soldiers, as their polearms tightened against his neck. There was a crowd surrounding the event, watching as they see the case being played out. In front of the victim, the King sat tall and looked visually aggravated. To add to the line-up, Motoyasu and Ren had been standing next to the King's close proximity_—

and me.

_That was definitely me, standing and looking at Naofumi with distrustful eyes. The resentment that came with those emotions burned. I _felt _them, but I know that I wasn't the one actively using them. It was him, or rather Itsuki Kawasumi._

—_How did I get here? How did I get over there!? Where was I!?_

_Motoyasu held in girl in his arms. From my angle, I couldn't tell who it was, but her sobbing filed the room quickly. As she spoke, I realized that her voice was too familiar._

"_The Shield Hero drank too much…" she said in her tears, "and he bursted into my room, holding me down."_

"_W-Wait, what!?" Naofumi's confusion was only branching out from the main sequence further._

"_H-He started to rip my clothes off… then he…" She was holding onto Motoyasu tightly. "I screamed and escaped the moment I could."_

"_That's nonsense! I went to sleep immediately after we ate!"_

"_Liar!" Motoyasu's shout was filled with anger. His face twisted as he damned Naofumi to his place. "If that's the case, then Myne wouldn't be crying this much!"_

"_Motoyasu! Why are you believing her!?"_

_Naofumi clicked his tongue, finally discovering that trying to convince Motoyasu was a waste of energy and breathe. He was already tangled in the girl's obvious lies. He turned to the King, trying to make his own pleads._

"_Your Highness! Look, I've been robbed of all my equipment and money! There's no way I was the one to—!"_

"_Silence, scoundrel!" Naofumi's attempt was dismissed immediately. The King didn't even try to listen to what Naofumi had wanted to say, baffling the Shield Hero. His eyes were twitching in disbelief, as he couldn't comprehend what exactly was going on. It was as if the world turned upside down._

"_This is a mistake. This has to be a mistake! I didn't do it!"_

"_I knew you would show your true colours eventually. I thought that feeling I had about you wasn't wrong."_

"_M-Motoyasu?"_

"_I found it hard to believe that someone like you was summoned here with no experience. What a lie."_

"_R-Ren!?"_

"_You think you're entitled? I've never thought you would stoop so low like this."_

"_I-Itsuki!?"_

_As he called out my name, a ringing noise resonated within my body. It started to hurt, like a black hole sucking up my soul. I didn't think I was this heartless towards Naofumi before, but it was another thing seeing it before me. I shriveled up out of my shame, keeping my eyes onto the conflicting, one-sided court case._

_We all assumed that Naofumi was guilty without much to think about it. It must have been some cruel joke to Naofumi, as the light in his eyes began to die. His head turned to the girl claiming the accusation, as one final silent hope. He hoped that she would pull it all back, as much as it was unreasonable._

_**Myne Suphia merely stuck her tongue out mockingly.**_

* * *

**「****Memory Fragment Recovered****亅  
****「****Resurgence of Recollection Successful****亅**

I blinked blanklessly. I held up my hands, clenching them while turning them back and forth to confirm my abled-movements. I was breathing heavily, gasping for whatever I could get. I felt the sweat running down my head, as I tried to recall what just happened.

I was back in the throne room, though I was technically always in the throne room. Rather, I was back to this current situation. Some questions finally had answers, but the reason was still unknown.

I remembered the catalyst for Naofumi's criminalization.

The King played a pivotal role, but he was not the catalyst that igniting the entire situation.

Naofumi was betrayed, but not by the King.

Naofumi was betrayed by the girl who stood right in front of him.

She was the one who tricked Motoyasu into villainizing his fellow Hero. We all fell for her false accusation of rape onto the Shield Hero. That's who we were tricked by. I wanted to say something to Naofumi so badly, but I needed to hold my tongue. I needed to keep with my plan of letting everything play out the way that it used to.

"Uh, excuse me? Mister Bow Hero? Are you okay?" One of the adventurers in my group pointed my distress out, as I instinctively hid the left side of the emotion with my hand.

"S-Sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Surely, I needed to kill the King for his crimes and future interventions with Naofumi, but I didn't know how far it extended now. How much did the King actually do in comparison to this girl? I didn't know what happens behind the scenes no matter how much of it I remembered.

My remaining unblocked eye burned through the girl's back and would kill if it could.

_Myne Suphia. _

_No, that isn't your real name._

_The reason why you were among the upper floors of the castle was not because you were a servant or soldier. Now that I think about it, it did seem like you were coming out of the King's chamber. I'm surprised I wasn't able to piece it together so quickly._

_Your true name is Malty Melromarc, the princess of this kingdom, isn't it?_

—_Quite a bitch in my plans, aren't you?_

* * *

**Afterword**

Thank you to all the favorites and follows. My (meme) goal is to get to the statistics where we could be right next to "Redemption", so it's a consecutive thing. (Then stop, because that would be perfect when people organize by follows and favourites.)

Moving on to reviews—

_Comrade Broseph_, it's nice that you mention the catalyst. What I've seen from other similar fanfictions is people that know what's going to happen, and they try to stop it as much as possible, but Naofumi unwillfully traded his trust for strength due to this false accusation. It only made sense that as someone who didn't know the future in detail, that he needed to play safe and not fuck up the timeline as much as possible, but I understand why people do this. It's boring to read entire scenes from the light novel and anime that people *should* already know about. That's why I struck this path when I had the chance. _Ironically enough…_

_LunarRin,_ I completely forgot that Motoyasu literally acted in a way that messed up the meeting between Raphtalia and Naofumi. Rest in peace, Raphtalia. I hope you don't get forgotten this time around. _Ironically enough…_

_Qinlongfei_, I'd like to thank you for putting time into these long reviews. I really enjoy reading them, and I could only hope that I get enough experience with writing to be able to help others out like you. Also, I'm not worried about canon purist anyways. As long as it's generally enjoyable, I'm won't be too down.

_ILeikFishes, _if it makes you feel any better, I definitely failed one of my exams and passed another with a 50%. No, I'm not kidding. That 50% was indeed real, and I sighed in a relief upon seeing it. I guess I didn't use the power of anime hard enough.

Four months of break starts for me, so I'll work on chapters as much as possible. Don't count on consistency though. I'm pretty lazy at keeping track.

**EDIT : Dammit, why did I think Itsuki's blazer was blue? I was thinking green when I wrote and reviewed it! Thanks for the catch, LunarRin!**


	4. My Desire

**Chapter Four : My Desire**

* * *

Blood splattered.

A clean hit.

From the angle I shot the arrow, it didn't look like it was going to hit. However, its head managed to find its way into the bird's stomach, crashing its trajectory downwards with the added weight. Even though it was easy to kill birds, it was practically a waste of time to grind off of them. They don't drop any items, and any experience gain is negligible. There was no reason to try and find its corpse.

Birds weren't particularly dangerous, but they posed a challenge to hit in the air with their erratic movements and unpredictable nature. Sometimes, people shot at them for fun and to compete with their friends or allies. As for my reason, I didn't have a specific excuse.

I knew the answer was not because I wanted to. I wasn't cruel to take an animal's life off a whim.

I was located just outside the town's wall within the closest forest available alongside my new party members. The four Heroes were to separate from each other with each of us agreeing that we would all start in different directions. I was given the southern side of the to grind my levels.

A collection of usapils and balloons were littered across the terrain, and their deaths came as quick as we laid eyes on them. In a way, it was very relaxing to fight simple monsters like them compared to what I had dealt with in the future. It only took half a second to load my arrow and another to hit its vital. Occasionally, I would miss the weak spot on the monster, prompting me to repeat the process once more. It never took more than three times for me to finish one off.

In the meanwhile, all of the party members kept in close proximity, but we ultimately killed our own monsters in pairs. When members of the party kill a monster, the experience is split with the rest of the party if they're within the range. It's weird when I actually thought about it since it's possible for only one person to kill it themself, but it worked in my favor as the divide and conquer technique worked wonders. As the Bow Hero, my perception was beyond exceptional, so I could find monsters before my allies could discover their presence. Combined with my possible one-shots, and I was weaving in experience from left to right.

Did I ever abuse this mechanic ever in the future?

"You're really good at this, Sir Bow Hero."

One of my party members, the mage to be specific, had approached me from the side. He was astounded by my dexterity and proficiency, taking this little moment in between the killing to slide in a praise. It reminded me on how during the first iteration of these events, they were saying the same things, even though I've never touched a bow ever in my life. Thinking back, it might have been senseless, but he had a good reason to be impressed.

I _did_ have about a year's worth of bow experience underneath my belt, and it was only natural for people to acknowledge the professionals.

I chuckled. "My only problem is that these monsters don't give as much experience as I want. Maybe fighting a dragon would satisfy my needs. They're only bigger birds that can be shot down."

"Quite the confidence, Sir Bow Hero. Now I know that I made the right decision to come into your party. Your presence already makes me feel much safer, though that's not to say I'll start to slack off."

"Are there any dragons around these parts?"

"... Sir Bow Hero, were you serious?"

"Of course. Upasils and balloons won't get me any stronger than the bare minimum. I can already kill them without much effort."

The mage shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't know any dragons these parts. I heard that there might be one within a few days of travel time towards the north, but I can't guarantee the existence. It's all hearsay rumors that I can offer."

"Is that so? I suppose we have no other choice. We'll continue to kill these monsters until we reach a reasonable point, or once someone gets hungry. No reason to stay if we can't be efficient."

"Yes, Sir!"

As I turned away, I opened up the status menu with the mental capacity needed. There was no visual indication that I was using it, and I didn't need to scroll through the menus with my hands if I didn't want to. I mentally landed my list of locked bows where I wanted to check.

The _Lethal Poison Bow_ was already unlocked. The skill attached was a damage over time effect, but it couldn't be effective against monsters. That was one of the skills that can be obtained by ranking the bow up. Its effectiveness explained why it was easy to obtain it so soon. That was fine, since my intentions for this bow were a monster of a different kind, one that would be affected. That being said, the _Shadow Bow_ was still a few levels away. My maneuverability will increase upon the switch, especially if I decide to strike at night where shadows are scattered in abundance. I'd have to take care of any active light sources before anything else if I were to abuse this to the utmost limit. The skill attached, _Shadow Boost_, should have doubled the stat gains within the darkness.

"Mister Bow Hero, there's a horde of monsters up ahead. There's a considerable amount."

I had already noticed them before, but there were more than I had expected. They looked to be a pack of wolves, but between the four people here, they were more than manageable.

The armoured knight's body was considerable big, and his defenses made him to not be a simple pushover. I sent him as our frontline, but he was not to make a full engage. The wolves were resting in the clearing, and they were relatively dangerous if all of them proceeded to gang up on the same person. They moment that one wolf noticed the knight, all of them would react as a group, and that was what ended up happening.

Even with the horde of wolves baring their fangs at the knight, he stuck to the plan. He backed away immediately when the first wolf saw him as his equipment meant that he couldn't run fast. They were definitely hungry for human meat, but the first stage of the plan was commencing. The knight used his skills to slice through the passing trees, causing them to collapse either on the wolves or to block their pathway. As they were evenly separated from each other, those who were obstructed chose their direction accordingly.

The spear user was to come in to the left of the destruction and deal with any wolves that had the misfortune to meet her. The mage aided her side, casting dense orbs of energy towards those who dared to challenge the spear user and ranking up a few of his own kills.

Those who managed to be fast enough to bypass the falling trees were facing off the knight. He was confident and that he could take on at most three wolves at the same time, and lucky for him, exactly three managed to slip by. He must have thanked the gods for the blessing. He aimed his blade and stepped forwards, laying his heart down on the line.

In the midst of the skirmish, I sat on top of a branch, sniping any of the remaining wolves that I knew my party members couldn't handle. The only reason that there were exactly three that escape the falling trees was that I took care of the other two. All monsters, whether they were a rabbit, wolf, or a balloon, had a weak spot that was critical to their obvious example for humans would be their hearts. As long as your weapon to break through the layered defenses, anything can die in a single swoop.

After everything was said and done, another level was added to my status.

* * *

_What was Resurgence of Recollection?_

I pondered at the question as my fork tapped onto the plate's meat lightly. The sauce that was absorbed during the cooking had begun to ooze out in a flowing stream. It held the right amounts of colour to it, and it made the combination look more tender than it should have been. With mashed potatoes along the side, it was the perfect midday meal. However, I couldn't bring myself to eat it quickly, as much it was getting colder. My mind wouldn't stop thinking.

_What _exactly _was Resurgence of Recollection?_

It was the second passive skill of _Dial Core of the Dragon Era_ that allowed me to remember the events that would eventually transpire, or rather, it should have allowed me to remember the events that I've forgotten from the time travel. However, I kept thinking about the trigger that caused me to remember Naofumi's unfair trial in detail.

When I first encountered Malty, or rather Myne as she was probably in character by then, I had the doubts that I've encountered her before somewhere. However, I didn't remember the princess entirely until she introduced herself to Naofumi. It was still possible for me to remember everything that I've forgotten if I could discover what could trigger the skill, but it was a blind scavenger hunt. Not only do I not know the precise conditions for the trigger, but I had no clue what I was forgetting until I realize it.

For example, I thought I knew about Motoyasu's condition, but once Ren brought up the subject, I came to the realization that I didn't know what that catalyst was for his transition into a filolial-loving person with a personality that clearly crossed into the realms of insanity. In this case, what would be the trigger that allowed me to remember his shift in persona? Did I need a name? Did I need to hear an event that was similar to it? Did I need to see something that lead into the shift personally?

My fork pressed down deeper into the meat's surface until it reached the plate underneath. An audible clink was heard once the two mediums connected. My fingers pinched the utensil tightly in frustration.

_I knew nothing_. The constant reminder loomed over my head every time I tried to think about my situation. How was a time traveler suppose to change the future if he didn't know what needed to be changed?

"Sir Bow Hero? Are you not hungry?"

The mage who sat beside me at the table had voiced his concern to me. My eyes lurked over to the side, before returning towards my plate. I sighed heavily, trying to drop the subject of my focus for now. It was unsightly to make people worry at the time of eating, and regardless, I needed to keep up my appearance.

Though, the three people that knew nothing of my struggles contributed greatly to one of those struggles.

I don't get the same feeling from them as I did from Myne. There was nothing I could sense that could lead me into remembering who these people were. Surely, I received party members during the first iteration of these events and I spent much time fighting alongside them, whether it was against monsters or the waves. Even if I forgotten who those people were, being by their side _should have_ made me mysteriously nostalgic. There was no explanation as to why I had the feeling that I _didn't know_ these people other than the obvious answer.

I didn't know them at all, with or without my memories.

My exclamation of being an ally of justice came to mind. Had that little squeal of mine completely changed who had enlisted themselves with me? If that was the case, then I would need to be careful to what I said in the future. An easy divergence of what I said could easily alter the future I was heading into, though I quietly laughed at my hypocritical stance.

For someone who wanted to keep the timeline as close as possible to learn about what was happening, I was attempting to cause a giant divergence in the desire of the king's death.

"Sorry, I have a lot on my mind. Don't worry. I'm going to eat it all eventually."

"I don't doubt that. Er, the 'having a lot on your mind' thing. I heard that the Heroes were taken out of their own respective worlds to come help us out in the waves of destruction. Surely, it must be disorientating to be suddenly taken from your world." The mage used his knife to slice off another piece of his meat, layering it over a grouped up portion of mashed potatoes. "I can't even imagine how much the other Heroes must be undergoing, but it's not a problem for you. Isn't that right, Sir Bow Hero?"

"Honestly, I would say I have more problems than you could ever know."

"Right. Forgive me for assuming such a bold statement. I didn't think heroes that preside with justice had problems on their plates, but I suppose you're as human as the rest of us. Though, that only makes people like you amazing."

A gentle smile snuck its way within my expression.

"Hey, I took back that statement from my introductions. Did I not?"

"The initial impression made such an impact to the ministers, so I heard, that I thought that you were lowering yourself to match up with the other Heroes. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the other three were students of their respective institutes. I don't doubt your validity as a student as well, but I'm guessing that you acted as the justice within the shadows back where you came from. It would explain how you are really good with the bow."

My fork scrapped up a piece of the side, sliding the mashed potatoes into my mouth. The fluffy texture held onto my tongue, retaining only a fraction of its initial heat. My answer mulled over then food as I chewed and swallowed. "... Sorta. It's complicated, but you're not entirely wrong."

"Amazing… Sir Bow Hero, you truly are amazing to be an ally of justice." The mage left his fork to rest on the plate, as he brought his hand to his chest. "The reason that I joined you was that I wanted to be on the side of justice as well. An ally of justice like you. To have the ability to save people, I admire those like—"

"I'm flattered, but I'm not exactly the best example."

I was _going _to be an ally of justice, once I exterminated the root of evil within this kingdom. I could not be called one yet. I've done absolutely nothing to deserve such a title, and I only caused grief to Naofumi and was an inconvenience to her.

… Huh? Her?

"With strength like that, surely you are an excellent ally of justice."

"Well, I _am_ rather strong, so you're not wrong there, but the implication is wrong. Strength doesn't necessarily mean justice. If anything, it implies corruption."

"Corruption?"

My head turned to the mage who was looking to me with his head tilted, confused.

"I was once similar to you. I admired justice, but I didn't have to power to act on it. Even when my intentions stayed good, people despised me nevertheless whenever I tried to act on it. It was my escapism. The majority of my life was spent in loneliness and agony where the only place I felt safe was my own room. Even then, I would be comprised by my hateful parents sometimes. Despite my yearning for justice, I think that I myself wanted a person of justice to save me instead, but that person never came.

"However, I was given the chance to have a power where I could act on the justice I desired one day. I thought it was the best thing ever, but all that power went into my head. I became the justice that nobody liked, claiming everything that disagreed with my methods to be evil. It was only through my friends that managed to break me out of my trance that I realized the error of my ways."

"What about now? Is that why you don't want to be called an ally of justice?"

I raised my fork to begin making meaningless markings against the food, before I dug into it. The soft consistency was held by the four prongs and despite the gaps, it didn't fall. I watched the mashed potatoes as the rising steam began to be transparent to the air.

"Until I can make amends," I said, "there's no way I can claim that title. Though, it's not as if I completely hate it, so call me whatever you want. Just keep that story in mind, alright?"

I continued to eat, moving the fork's end into my mouth.

* * *

After another session of farming our levels, I barely managed to reach the requirement to use my _Shadow Bow_. In other words, I could begin the assassination from now onwards, though it slightly surprised me to how fast I was able to regain my lost levels. Though, I must admit that I spent the first "first day" with minimal progress being done compared to the heavy monster genocide I've unleashed onto the ecosystem.

Nighttime had fallen and my party members took up residence in the inn rooms on the second floor. Each of them took up a different room, so we could have our own privacy, but I spent the time in the attaching restaurant area of the inn. It was a nice feeling to waste time away while sipping down the supplying water. Being a hero, they didn't mind the constant refills without buying anything. They were willing to sell my alcohol, but I wasn't in the mood. Being slightly underage didn't bother the bartender, and he was more than happy to have one of the Cardinal Heroes to sit in one of his stools. I suppose the advertisements made themselves.

"Oh, Itsuki. You're here as well?"

A voice beckoned me to looked to my side. A familiar black haired swordsman walked over to me, pulling out a stool one seat over. It appeared as if he wanted some personal space between us.

"Hey, Ren. How was the day been acting towards you?"

"So far, I've adapted well into this world. My body feels as light as it did when I played _Brave Star Online_, and I'm confident that I'll be able rival my original strength there. I'm lucky that I was summoned as the Sword Hero, since I'm already comfortable wielding a sword."

"Another Cardinal Hero?" The bartender smiled at the new guest at his counter. "Fancy a drink? It's on the house as a welcome gift to our world."

"No, but thanks. I'm underaged, so I can't be drinking, even if I'm in a different world to my own."

"Anything else I could possibly get you then?"

"Do you have any non-alcoholic wine in stock?"

"A few kinds. Anything specific?"

"Doesn't matter. Surprise me."

"Alright, give me a moment. I'll prepare the most popular one for you."

Ren turned to me after his small talk with the bartender. "How about you? How far have you gotten?"

"I got a handful of levels, but nothing too grandiose."

"I'm surprised." His head turned away from me. "I thought you would get more than a 'handful'."

My eyes narrowed onto Ren. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? I guess now is a good time as ever. Let me ask you something that I've been meaning to talk to you about. Itsuki,—"

The clock of above the bartender's position had been the clicking to a silent ambiance. Itching closely to the next hand, the clock went uninterrupted with its showcase. It was slow. Much too slow. How long had it been going on with its solo performance? The song of a requiem played through its simplistic rhythm, but it is through that modesty that the combination of tritones were so disturbing to my ears. An extended slow glissandi kept etching itself into my ears, as the sounds finally came to a dramatic pause. Ren overwritten the composition in with a bass' drop.

"—_who exactly are you_?"

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

The drink that Ren had asked for was finished and the bartender slid the filled glass over to him. Not a single drop had spilled onto the counter, but even if it did, it wouldn't have changed the tenseness of the atmosphere. It wrapped its fingers around my neck, but I couldn't react.

"Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm an 18 years old highschool student. I thought I introduced myself already."

"... That's the card you're playing? I see."

"Ren, I don't completely understand why you would ask me such a thing."

I lied. I played innocent.

I knew already that Ren held suspicions of me. He was the one that I called out for when we came onto the summoning ritual, and luck would send me right beside the most observant person of the bunch. If I had called out for Motoyasu, he wouldn't have thought about it again. If I had called out for Naofumi, he would have been rather surprised, but I had a feeling that the bright-eyed Naofumi wouldn't think in depth about it. However, I saw Ren instead and it was quickly becoming a bane.

"It's fine, Itsuki. As you might not trust me with your truth, I have reservations to not trust you either. You are much too suspicious for my liking. It's like you know something that we don't."

"There's nothing that needs to be shared."

"Then, there _is_ something that you're withholding from the rest of the Heroes?"

"... I think you're reading too much into the situation."

"... Am I? I apologize then."

I knew Ren was an observant person, but I didn't recognize him as someone who inspected the finer details. If that was the case, why didn't he sense anything wrong with Naofumi's trial before? Why did he say such poisonous things towards a man that didn't have solid evidence towards his crime other than a questionable testimony?

"It's getting late," I said. My lungs felt like they were going to collapse from the heightened gravity. "I should be heading to sleep now. All of my party members should be in bed right about now, and I should in haste. The first day on the job isn't an excuse to be sleep-deprived."

I stepped away from the stool, leaving my empty glass behind. The bartender waved for my departure, saying the correlating lines.

Ren sighed, picking up his drink. "Alright. Good luck tomorrow on your grinding."

My footsteps held weight to them, as I paced myself at a normal speed. However, Ren's voice beckoned me to turn around once more before I turned the corner.

"By the way, Itsuki."

I didn't turn. I simply held myself in place.

"Did you know that when you're in a conversation, the light in your eyes sometimes disappear like a flickering light bulb?"

"Is… Is that so…?"

My footsteps continued, matching the sound of the ticking clock.

* * *

Strangely, the non-alcoholic drink the bartender gave to me felt like it contained alcohol. However, that was only in taste. None of it was rushing to my bloodstreams and causing myself to become drunken. I could begin to see why this was the popular non-alcohol wine in his stock. It was for those who wanted to experience the taste of alcohol without the strength. Some could say that it removed the amusement of drinking, but this was obviously the safe option for the night.

How does Itsuki Kawasumi know my name?

There are hundreds of names within Japan's knowledge, and for him to be able to call out the exact name of the person beside him was unlikely. There was added the fact that it wasn't an immediate beckoning. He had time to register his surroundings, and turned to me. It was as if he had already known who I was.

What causes him to fall into a daze consistently?

Once during our conversation about Motoyasu, and once when Myne had been introducing herself to Naofumi. When a person's consciousness is not fitted into their heads, it becomes obvious to see their blankness on their faces. The difference between his emotions beforehand had been a playing factor as well.

All I have are assumptions. Perhaps Itsuki Kawasumi is as innocent as he said he is. However, I'm inclined to not believe that.

What person lies about their own age?

No.

That wasn't it. There's something else that I'm missing.

It didn't feel like he was lying.

_Then, why the difference in answers? _

* * *

**Afterword**

_Itsuki and Ren walks into a bar, and…?_

Shorter chapter this time, and I feel like this one was rather weak(?). I had trouble putting things into words for this, so I didn't want to extend it too long. I had to go through a few drafts and ideas before I settled with this one. I got stuff going on, so I can't be working on the next chapter during this week, though I suspect that everyone knows what's coming up. _Y-You do, right?_

I suppose from now on, I'm going to only address things in reviews if I feel like it's important enough to address. I don't want to completely litter the afterword with with simple responses.

And to start off—_*slams table*_

_Fuck!_ That was such a good idea, _Qinlongfei_! It would have made Malty such an interesting force within the story that Itsuki would need to consider, but I don't think I have the confidence to write such a version of Malty. I'll leave it to the professionals. (*_cough people, go read ambition of the red princess cough*)_

Alright, that's it for me.

While I'm at, since everyone's been giving musical themes to characters, I'll jump into the trend too. However, there's only going to be one musical theme for our main protagonist.

For this story, Itsuki's character theme is "Condemnation Wings II" from _BlazBlue : Chrono Phantasma_. It's honestly too perfect _not_ to use as his character theme.

A closing statement? Nah, too lazy.

**EDIT : Ren's ability to read the author script has been removed. Thanks, Qinlongfei.**


	5. Divergent Factors

**Chapter Five : Divergent Factors**

* * *

**)))**—**)**—**)**—**) ✢ (**—**(**—**(**—**(((**

* * *

_How many times did I have to go through this again?_

_Naofumi gets brought in. Myne accuses him of rape, as false tears ran down her face. Naofumi pleads his innocence repeatedly and earnestly. Motoyasu, Ren, and I don't believe him without a single doubt that there was something wrong. King ignores his pleads, and defames him as a criminal. The victim keeps pleading, but realizes that no one was willing to extend their hand over to what they thought was a criminal. Naofumi is pushed into his darkness, casted over by the people who caused it. His docility is inflamed, burning into ashes forever, while his anger of the cruelty of this world grabbed reine of his shoulders._

_I know how the memory goes. I know what the results are. I know what happens to Naofumi!_

_Stop showing me this event again and again! Over and over, endlessly repeating upon an infinite cycle! Stop it, stop it, stop it!_

_I know that Naofumi's bright-eyed perspective is shattered into million pieces. I know that he'll never recover that image again. I already understand that! How many times did my head feel the need to show me his face, pleading for any help for any belief in his words!?_

_Naofumi… Please…_

_I couldn't do anything then. I can't do anything now, but I swear to you. You will have the justice that you desired. __**We**_ _will have the justice that we desired. The king shall die for his actions. Is that not enough? Should Myne suffer as well?_

_Fine. Let them burn in the flames of their consequences. Let them regret the wicked path they have taken. Let them see the error of their ways as justice puts an end to their reign. Naofumi, the last laugh shall be yours, and the evil of this kingdom will be removed._

_Justice will reign supreme. We will win! This, I swear to you, Naofumi!_

_So… Stop giving me that look… I'm sorry, alright…? Stop asking me for help... I beg of you…_

_**I beg of you…!**_

**)))**—**)**—**)**—**) ✢ (**—**(**—**(**—**(((**

Another night came where I was unable to recall what I dreamt about. Instead of tears I found on my face, it was instead the semblance of fear. My eyes were practically bulged outwards. I must have been experiencing a nightmare, but I wondered if _Resurgence of Recollection_ had anything to do with my lack of recalling these moments within sleep. Though, they say that one occurrence is nothing, and two was a coincidence. Despite having access to the help menus, they were not vocal about what this skill was exactly, so everything related to it was a matter of hypothesis and possible conclusions. The limits of this skill was unknown as well, since skills can have multiple parts or uses on activation or passiveness.

My chest felt heavy. Despite the longs days I have before me, I needed to move. However, my body wouldn't budge a single inch. It was as if an invisible force was pushing me down, refusing my movements. Something about this day made me sluggish, though I couldn't pinpoint why.

_Ah. It was today, wasn't it?_

The day after Naofumi and Myne party up together, Myne would betray Naofumi by accusing him of attempted rape. The duo couldn't even last for twenty-four hours, though there was probably no intentions of ever making it through the frame. Maybe in some alternate universe far off in the distance, it could have worked, but such wishful thinking won't do any justice.

_Did I sincerely wanted for this to happen again?_

The answer was obviously. Absolutely not, but what I wanted to do and what needed to happen can be conflicting against each other. This was for Naofumi's own good, regardless if he doesn't see it as a benefit. A part of me wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible while holding my breath. The other didn't even want to step foot inside of the castle and watch Naofumi be convicted. Both would result in the same ending for him regardless.

I'd say that not showing up at all would be more terrible for my heart, since Naofumi would be running on a false hope that I was still believing in him. Then, without the invisible barrier of the throne room hierarchy, I'd have to tell him right in his face. I sincerely wondered how the past me was able to say such toxicity, and still go to sleep soundly. Though, I wouldn't mind for that former persona to take over for the day.

I held my clenched fist towards my chest. I could feel that same heart pumping harder out of anxiety.

I _really_ didn't want to do this again.

"Sir Bow Hero!" The mage in my party had been shouting, as the knocking on my room went from rest to an affrettando tempo. It kept going, picking up the beats per minute every second. "Sir Bow Hero! Something terrible has happened! You have to listen to this! Sir Bow Hero!? Are you awake yet!? Please be awake!"

And yet, I _have_ to.

I sluggishly sway my feet off of the bed, and flung myself upwards forcefully. My head whiplashed as I came to a stop, sitting along the edges. It took just as much effort to push myself off onto my feet.

I opened the door, both physically and mentally.

"S-Sir Bow Hero!" The shouts were still as loud as they were before, even though the barrier was removed between us. "You're not going to believe this!"

"What is it?" I tried to act my best to be surprised, but I think the reaction came out as undazed. Regardless, the mage was too baffled in the news to notice the expression.

"They sent out a search party for the Shield Hero. It turns out that the Shield Hero that was summoned alongside you was up to no good!. The girl that switched over from Sir Spear Hero's party—Myne, I think her name was—was sexually assaulted last night! Erm, I suppose it's better to say 'attempted', but the intentions were still there."

"Naofumi did? Really?"

"Between you and me, I had bad feelings about the Shield Hero the moment I saw him. He looked like the kind of guy to abuse his position. Though, I wanted to reserve my judgement for someone I barely knew about, but this act of his sealed the deal."

That _had_ to be a lie. No matter how you looked at it, Naofumi was docile and bright-eyed. He smiled whenever he got the chance and looked towards things optimistically. Being the Shield Hero and accepting that role, even though Motoyasu told him about the banes of being a shield-only class, was enough roof. It was reliving these moments that I greatly mistook Naofumi's early personality of someone who thought positively through attitude and not through sheer will and desire.

"Where are the other Heroes right now?"

A trivial question that I already knew the answer to.

"Sir Spear Hero is awaiting for them to bring in the Shield Hero right now to confront him about the issue, while Sir Sword Hero should be on his way, though I'm not too sure. I'm only certain about Sir Spear Hero's position right right now."

"Is that so?"

"Are you planning to confront the Shield Hero alongside your fellow heroes?"

I exhaled heavily. "I guess I have no other choice."

The mage stepped his foot halfway in the doorway. "Could I come as well, Sir Bow Hero? I want to see the Shield Hero be given the punishment he deserves."

I didn't want to say it before, but this mage fellow really reminded me of a tamer version of my past self. My instincts told me to strangle him before he fell to his own emotions, but I reminded myself that he wasn't actually me. There was a chance that he had a better mindset than me, but it was only the better reason to lead him astray from the darker path.

"If that's the only reason, then no."

"H-Huh? Why not!?"

"You wish to fight for justice, right?"

"Of course! That's the reason why I joined you!"

"Justice isn't about dealing punishments. It's about correcting the world towards peace, or something like that."

"Correcting the world… towards peace…?" He tilted his head as if I was talking in another language. However, his concern hadn't been directed to the words I said. "Why do you say in such an unsure tone, Sir Bow Hero?"

The corners of my mouth twitched. "I told you already yesterday. I was corrupted by loving and adhering to the ideal justice in my mind, and there's not a single moment that I don't think about those dark days." My hands pinched along the door's surface, as I started to sway it back and forth. "What is justice? I'm still trying to find the answer. Right now, correcting the world is my current response, but I'm not entirely sure if it's truly the response I'm looking for."

"Sir Bow Hero…"

I chuckled under my breath, like it was a bad joke. "And to think, I thought I had the decency to call myself an ally of justice when I was summoned into Melromarc. Ridiculous."

"I don't think you're ridiculous." The mage understood that he wasn't coming and accepted his role, nodding. I was happy that he looked up to me and held me up high, but lip service wasn't going to budge my feet. Not for something as important as this. My _pride _can stand aside for another time.

"... Thank you, but I'm wasting time here. I need to get to the castle before they bring in Naofu—"

_A resonating pulsation._

_Pride._

_The _curse _of my pride._

_What?_ My mind shivered, just like the occurrence of _Resurgence of Recollection_, so I prepared myself for the worst. However, the actual skill never came. My head had simply undergone a brief migraine that wanted to split my skull in two, but decided to abandon the mission at the last second. I winced in pain, grabbing it with my left hand to prevent, as if it would stop it somehow. _What was this about a curse?_

As its climax, it dropped, leaving me at a loss for words and breathless. I collapsed onto my knees, hanging off of the door. I instinctively pulled it back, causing it the bang against my body, but I ignored the blunt impact. My mind was racing through my head, circling and making laps.

_Was it really 'pride'? Why did that word bring such unrelenting pain to me?_ It was enough for me to remember a relation, but it wasn't enough for me to trigger the skill, so I could the correlating memory. When I thought I knew a good amount of the skill to play around it, it hits me with this curveball where it soft-triggers! I'm at my wit's end with this stupidly designed skill! Who thought this was a good idea!?

For that single moment after my anger came to me, I felt nothing. It was as if my emotions completely deserted me.

I felt the tugging on my shoulder, trying to keep my body as straight as possible without letting it fall. "Sir Bow Hero! Are you alright!? What happened!?"

I swallowed down my built-up saliva, and regained my consciousness. "I'm… I'm fine. It's nothing much."

"Are you sure!? If you're feeling unwell, then you should be staying in bed! Don't risk your health for some criminal's trial!"

"No, I… I have to go."

"You have to rest!"

The blood returned to my body where everything was suppose to, but there was an influx rushing to my head. I clenched my teeth, as my hand pushed the mage away roughly. He was the one to fall down instead of me.

"Shut up! I'm going!"

"..."

It only took me another second to realize what I did. The fear in his eyes burned an image against my soul, but he tried to erase it quickly, to not let me see it any further. However, the arms that were supporting him had been shaking. I stood up slowly, using the door handle as my crutch, as I watched the dazed mage sitting on the floor.

"I… I didn't mean to…"

"That's right…" The mage muttered under his breath, though it was loud enough for me to hear him. Through his anxious mouth, he made a light smile, though twitching slightly. "You did say that you were going through more problems than I thought about yesterday. Sorry about that. I overstepped my boundaries."

He stood back up, dusting whatever particles leapt onto his clothing during the shuffle.

"I'll tell the others that you'll be preoccupied with the entire Shield Hero business. We'll probably be around town somewhere once you're done. Just, make sure you take good care yourself. You're the Bow Hero, after all. We don't want to have a hero who's a criminal and a hero who's sick, right?"

This party member truly believed in me, even when I pushed him down. He still tried to smile, even though it was obvious that he was frightened. What was this blind faith that he had? Why was this such a familiar feeling? My memories refuse to come back to me, but my heart was crying at this thought.

This blind faith was oddly familiar.

"However, promise me one thing, Sir Bow Hero." He held his fist tightly to his chest, pressing down. "Promise me that the Shield Hero will get what he deserves. Promise me that justice will give him the fitted results."

I held my breath.

"... The Shield Hero to get what he deserves, huh? That's what I truly hope for."

**)))**—**)**—**)**—**) ✢ (**—**(**—**(**—**(((**

"Itsuki, did you hear what happened?"

That was Motoyasu's first question to me when I stepped into the throne room. It surprised me that his voice could reach such a seriousness. His armour was the same as the one I saw in the memory, a chainmail tunic.

I nodded while I walked towards the throne that the king sat on, who which I gave my greeting to before addressing Motoyasu. He was standing just before the steps upwards, with Myne _acting _scared out of her life. For what's it's worth, she can surely make tears look believable. It's a shame to waste such a talent on a plan that hinges solely only the victim's account. Though, it wouldn't matter if it was real or not, Motoyasu would probably believe her just the same. He's always been that type of idiot.

"More or less. Naofumi did something, right?"

"Yeah. He tried to rape his only party member! Could you believe that!? The nerve of that guy pisses me off!" Motoyasu was genuinely furious, and talked about him as if our lighted-hearted discussion on our first day never happened. To Motoyasu, Naofumi was already guilty. "Myne goes out of her way with the kindest in her heart to help out Naofumi and _this_ is the thanks he gives her!?"

Another footstep came behind me, as I turned to see who it was. Though, I already had an idea.

"Ren…?"

His face was brindled with emotion, and looked more serious than it had ever been before. However, I couldn't put my finger on it. His body was too tensed up for something like this, but he was trying to hide everything through a relaxed posture. He wasn't acting like this in my memory brought upon by the skill. Was he mad that his small training session with Naofumi went to waste on a 'criminal'? In any case, no other term perfectly describes it other than 'a silent fury', but…

_Who was it directed at?_

"Ren! Have you heard the news!?"

"Naofumi tried to rape his companion. I've heard. The news has been spreading quite quickly. Almost the entire town has heard about it at this point. If not, then they will by the end of the day." A cold statement to answer Motoyasu's question, wrapped around in a warm blanket. "I can't believe someone like him who do something like that."

"I know, right!?" Motoyasu exclaimed. "The king is sending out his soldiers to capture Naofumi right now, and to bring him in for his punishment! That'll teach him!"

"Just a question before the soldiers get the chance to bring him in." Ren began to rolled his hands around his wrist, glaring at Motoyasu through his bangs. "What evidence convicts Naofumi of this crime?"

"Evidence? Just look at Myne!" Motoyasu stepped out of the way, so Ren could see the tear-stained face of hers. "She clearly looks like she's been through something traumatizing. We need to bring Naofumi the punishment he deserves!"

Motoyasu didn't notice the frozen aura behind his icy eyes as Ren stared at the crocodile-teared girl. His expression had completely changed without moving a single muscle on his face. An exasperation emerged from his breath.

"... _Is that so_?" He held his eyes in an extended blink. "Fine. Let's see how this goes."

It might have been my imagination, but Ren appeared to be more calmer and more controlled than how he was acting in my recovered memory. Of course, I knew Ren to be someone who tried to look his coolest in every possible situation where he could look cool, but there was another feeling of tameness to his words. There was no underlying anger buried in his voice, but there had been curiosity.

Had this also been the cause of my original divergence of the timeline? If that was the case, there's another problem that arose. Like me, Ren had also showed up alone to the throne room, leaving Motoyasu to be the only one to bring his companions alongside him as spectators. Thinking as I did, I couldn't find the link between my name calling and Ren's similar action; there was a disconnect in harmonization.

The only possible thing I could think of is that Ren's suspicion of me poured over to the rest of the world, but that would be too open-ended and out-of-the-idea. If anything, the Naofumi in the future would fit the bill perfectly. Ren was cynical at times, but he hadn't been to the depths of Naofumi's cynicism.

And so, one more break in the song came so suddenly.

That thought I had was suppressed immediately. It was a ridiculous theory anyways, and it came from my instinctive feelings. I told myself that I wouldn't be naive anymore, but here I was, immediately jumping to conclusions with no clear evidence within my grasp. That's how I was corrupted by justice in the first place, and thinking that I was always correct to do so. I needed to remove that habit of mine and carefully tread the theory carefully.

Though, I couldn't shake it off entirely and my body shivered quietly. I kept feeling it, and as I held that memory next to my heart, it became more clear that this wasn't the first time. I was simply overlaying it.

Thus came the question;

_Why was I getting the same reaction to Ren with the mage companion I have?_

"H-Hey! There's no need to be rough! I'm going like you told me to!"

The doors of the throne room had opened up, as the shouting of a certain Shield Hero had rummaged through towards the far side. Soldiers in bulk trudged him along, as he stepped forwards in front of the small crowd. He was still in his underclothing, staggering along the carpet. The soldiers stepped to each shoulder and pushed him to the ground, on his knees, before they slid the halberds' poles against his neck.

His expression screamed of confusion. He was trying to listen to the soldiers' orders as best as he can, but he couldn't comprehend why they were resorting to rough force against him. He absolutely didn't know what was happening, and when he saw the three of us, there was a brief moment of relief in his eyes. Needless to say, it was short-lived.

"Wait, Motoyasu! Why are you wearing _my_ chainmail armour!? _You're_ the thief!?"

"Thief? Who here is a thief!? If anything," Motoyasu took a step forwards, brazenly pointing at Naofumi, "you're the most likely to be a thief, you scoundrel!"

"W-What...? Scoundrel? Me!?"

One of the ministers stepped forwards and cleared his throat. "We will now hear the charges against the Shield Hero!"

"Charges…!?" His mind was incapable to registering the sudden turn of events from being a hero one day, and being criminalized the next. Defending himself at this point was out of the question; he could only parrot the unbelievable announcement.

The unknowing Motoyasu spat out a relentless onslaught onto the unknowing Naofumi. "Don't try to act innocent! You know what this is all about, Naofumi! And to think! I thought you were a good person on the first day!"

He stepped out of the way to let Myne talk and begin her accusations. I almost cringed at the anticipated words, as she stumbled through her voice, sniffing in a false fear.

"The Shield Hero… Last night, he had too much to drink…" She paused to wipe her tears, as if the willpower behind her words had dwindled in the face of the culprit. "He came into my room… forcefully… He tried to… He tried to…!" Her breathing had became unsteady, as Motoyasu comforted her.

She didn't even get to the main point and the reasoning for this entire trial, but Naofumi had connected the dots on himself. His eyes widened at his former teammate, freezing him a complete state of shock.

"N-No, that's impossible," he muttered. "I went to sleep immediately after I ate last night. There's no way that I could have done something like that."

"Are you still trying to act innocent, Naofumi!?"

"W-What am I supposed to say to convince you that I _am_ innocent!? IF anything, I should be the one on the other side! All my stuff is gone!" Naofumi stammered at his words. "Ren! Itsuki! Please say something against this! I didn't do it!"

"Silence!" The king roared in anger to the Shield Hero's attempts of defending himself.

The words may have differed from the memory, but this was the moment of my actions. The majority of the trial depended on the gullible Motoyasu to drive the steering wheel while the king and Myne pointed to the directions that were supposed to go. Ren and I had seats in the back, watching as the reckless maneuvering of Motoyasu was faultless in comparison to Naofumi.

I hesitated.

It was one thing to agree with Motoyasu's perspective on Naofumi when I didn't know who Naofumi was. That would have simple, and the original timeline would have reignited once again. However, it was another factor to agree with Motoyasu, knowing _full well_ that Naofumi was in the right; he was innocent,

I tried not to reveal my disgruntled expression lurk my shadows, but the seconds that came about had turned into minutes in my eyes, all debating on whether or not I should truly say something about this.

"_How __despicable_."

Ren's frosting voice chilled my spine, as he didn't even consider looking at the apparent culprit while he uttered those words. There was nothing more and nothing less to that simple statement, but Naofumi hope had shattered before his eyes.

I can't be the odd one out, so I took one lasting breath to save myself from the uncomfortable feeling. I tried to remember the words that I once said, as if it was a script. I turned my head to the left, to avoid looking at Naofumi's eyes with my own. My hair must have darken my vision.

"I… I can't believe you, Naofumi. I… I've never thought you would… stoop so low like this."

Like a drop of a glass chalice in a dark cavern, I could hear the single strumming string snap on the instrument. I couldn't keep my sights on him even if I wanted to, as I drowned myself in my simple action of dismissal.

Compared to this one moment, the trial went on as I remembered, but much quicker than I expected. Suspension was the name of the trial for me, as the blood rushed back into my head after I was able to say my part and adhere to the original timeline events.

There was no way I would be able to do this ever again.

**)))**—**)**—**)**—**) ✢ (**—**(**—**(**—**(((**

He left the throne room by making a scene with Motoyasu after the guards were forced to release him from their grasp and ended up hating everyone, the Heroes definitely included.

Naofumi Iwatani, one filled with enthusiasm and cheerfulness, had died and in his place, Naofumi Iwatani, one of anger and contempt, stepped in.

Subsequently, Motoyasu added Myne to his own party to keep his safe, whatever he meant by that. He decided to stay in the throne room to sort things out with his new party member while I began to leave. Regardless if I experienced already, I still felt uneasy about simply allowing such an injustice to I stayed, I wouldn't be able to breath anymore.

"Itsuki. Do you have a minute?"

Ren had walked up from behind me as I found the stairwell. The first few steps had already been crossed, but I stopped to turn around to the Sword Hero, standing above me. The window was glaring its bright lights just behind him, reminding me that it hasn't even been the entire day yet, even though I wanted to cram myself back into an inn room quickly.

"Is there something you want?"

"_You noticed too_."

My eyes widened at Ren's words, blinking blankly. I didn't register the entire phasing in its context completely, as my dropped jaw found its holding.

"... Noticed what exactly?"

"It's fine, Itsuki. There's no one around here. The guards are too busy watching Naofumi leave the castle vicinity."

His words held a resolution to them, clear and crisp. Ren was surprising me, as my body wouldn't budge, frozen in confusion. I knew what he was trying to convey to me, but my mind wouldn't believe it at all. This wasn't what I remembered, nor was it even possible.

"... Wh—What… What are you… trying to say?"

"When I said my few words in the throne room, I hadn't been talking towards Naofumi."

"Your few words? You mean, the 'how despicable'?" No matter how I thought about it, it sounded like Ren was criticizing Naofumi, but when I actually took the time to remember what Ren's body actions were, he never actually projected his voice at the victim. My eyes widened at the realization. "You were talking about _everyone else_ in the throne room."

He nodded his head softly. "I didn't feel like saying anything during Naofumi's trial, since it would be dangerous to go against the flow of the river without preparations, so I thought I lay down a double-meaning dialogue for the other Heroes. Though, I never expected Motoyasu to be quite incapable of deriving truthfulness and deceit. You, however, noticed Myne's accusations were a lie—"

Ren's perceptiveness was good, but it wasn't at all this good. I was certain, even without my extensive knowledge of the future.

And yet, what was this feeling of terror? It was inexplicable, like Ren had completely seen through me. I felt a single drop of sweat roll down from my forehead slowly, as my heart started to beat rapidly. His voice had lagged behind the shaping of his mouth, as I realize his sentence wasn't finished yet.

My mind rushed towards the essence of the butterfly effect. Every changed actions has its consequences later down the line that could be traced down by a sequential, reasonable order. For Ren's interactions, I may have altered the pathing slightly to make him suspicious of me, but there clearly wasn't enough substance to make him the way that he was right now. Perceptiveness was not built off of a single action, but over a period of time.

As Ren completed his sentence, the theory I had suppressed before Naofumi's trial began had returned. My ears rang in preparation, as if the evening bell tolled endlessly for a lost soul.

"—**and as did I. Naofumi Iwatani, the Shield Hero, is innocent.**"

_Like the mage companion, I did not know who _this _Ren was_, _but I did learn something from this encounter._

_I was not the only divergence factor in the timeline._

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**Afterword**

The title of the chapter is also a double-meaning. Love it when it all comes around.

It turns out that reading Naofumi's trial in multiple variations across the fanfiction community doesn't make it any easier to actually write it out. Personally, that is. That's the reason why I sliced off the scene early. I didn't feel like going over water that had been travelled a dozen times already.

At this point, I should have mentioned the pathing in which I want to be taking this and the differences I wanted to take compared to the influential works. This would have been better placed in the first few chapters, but whatever. Too lazy to edit now.

"Reprisal" is a lighthearted spin-off that isn't really meant to be taken serious because Motoyasu is clearly a broken man, in personality and abilities. Alongside his whimsical adventures to find Filo, Motoyasu ensures that his father-in-law, Naofumi, is the centerpiece of his attention.

"Recourse" is a serious (fanmade) spin-off that challenges the involved characters. With Itsuki literally forgetting everything and maintaining only the vague memories (even compared to Motoyasu), the atmosphere is a complete shift. It's something that becomes clear in this chapter, if not then hinted at. Just as the secondary Hero of Motoyasu's story is Naofumi, the secondary Hero of Itsuki's story is Ren.

_They didn't get enough love in "Reprisal"._

_(*cries in 'I believe in Cardinal Hero equality' tears*)_

And I apologize for the long delay. For those who didn't see, I was writing a fight-scene oriented one-shot for this fandom since I was getting burnt out of writing "Recourse". The next chapter is going to take awhile.

I wanted to get through a few other books. I recently picked up the Progressive series for Sword Art Online and I want to binge through it.

Oh, I mean—I'm _way_ too lazy to start working on it.


	6. Him and Me

**Chapter Six : Him and Me**

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I suddenly found myself with difficulty walking as I traversed through the town. It didn't matter where I went, since all I wanted was a break from life in its entirety. With my mind drained from its vitality, I found myself collapsing against a wall within an alleyway so that I could catch my breath, despite not having exerted or participated in any physical activities so far. Today, I discovered that a mental fatigue was just as severe as a bloodied wound. Perhaps I would say that it had the capacity to be greater in force.

For what could a bloodied wound be fixed? It was a simple answer. It had to be disinfected and treated properly by medical staff or items. However, what could you say about mental fatigue? Which part of it should be disinfected? Which part had to be treated? There was no service in this world that a simple walk-in could be done and out came a brand new person.

As I slid down against the brick wall and exhaled, I unconsciously traced myself back to when I was trying to leave the castle, and I was approached by Ren of all people. I kept thinking about him and the chills I had when he started to talk about Naofumi's trial, but luck swayed in my favour as Ren told me that we would continue this discussion later. If he had said anything more, none of it would reach my ears as the uneasy feeling in my body would have consumed me at that point.

_Still though._

I don't understand how Ren was able to see past Myne's false accusations onto Naofumi. The trial itself made have several flaws and solely depended on a single witness account, but it was enough for Ren to believe it during the original run. That's how it should have played out like my recollected memory, but I tried to remember the same restlessness that my heart had been giving as Ren spoke.

The way he spoke was different to the point where I couldn't believe my ears. His mannerisms had been slightly different and he was much keener on the smaller aspects of the situation. If I think about it, I don't ever recall Ren even extending his assistance to anyone out of his own free will. None of this matched up with the old Ren and he didn't start changing until…

Until? Until what? What was I going to say?

I scratched my head, trying to reel in the words that were loose, but it was of no use. Either way, all I can confirm is that Ren had changed somehow without much of my actions. I'm starting to wonder how the butterfly effect truly works. If I push down a single domino, it would be obvious that everything behind it would collapse in suit. However, would barely touching the surface be enough force to trip over the first domino?

There were many things I needed to consider, but the feeling in my legs had finally returned after my brief rest.

With one more deep breath, I got back onto my feet and left the alleyway.

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"The Shield Hero incident is super unbelievable, but whether or not it sounds real, it happened regardless."

"So? I never believed in a single moment for the Shield Hero. I always knew he was a bad guy."

"Really now?"

"And so, the cycle of the Shield Heroes continue as a natural enemy to us. I wonder when he's going to find his way over to the demi-humans now."

"Huh? Did they not imprison him!? I understand subsiding his punishment of death, but not even batting an eye to imprisonment?"

I walked into the tavern that was built within the inn to see my three party members conversing among themselves. I managed to overhear some of the conversation as they were engrossed within the words of gossip. The mage appeared to be the one directing the flow, while the armoured knight had been lying within the stream. The spear user kept quiet, adding in small comments whenever she felt like it.

"What? Why? Even if he was the lowest scum in the world, he's still the Shield Hero. Putting him in the castle prison is a recipe for war against Siltvelt. You know? The country that practically worships the Shield Hero blindly?"

The country of Siltvelt had been familiar to me as there was much talk about it, but all I could manage to remember was that it was a country of demi-humans, other than the fact that the inverse of religions had been present compared to Melromarc. Where Melromarc has the Church of the Three Heroes, Siltvelt worships the Shield Hero, in which both religions branches from the Four Heroes Faith religion.

I supposed I _didn't_ forget everything if I was able to spew out trivia like that. Now, whether it was going to be useful to me was another topic.

"A ill-mannered hero for the ill-mannered race. It has some poetry to it, like—"

"I'm back."

My companions looked back to me when I emerged behind them, and they brightly welcomed me. Of course, they asked me about what happened in the throne room for exact details, as what the rumors may have spread may differ from the truth. As such, I told them what happened, up to the point where Naofumi vented towards Motoyasu and threw his bag of coins over to him. As the words kept spewing, I realized that I was painting Naofumi in a bad image without acknowledging it, but when I realized, the story had already wrapped up.

"What a sorry excuse for a Hero. It's a shame we can't get another Shield Hero to replace him. Someone with a little more decency than this guy. If we did, it would be great, but that would mean..."

The armoured companion looked over to me, as if he was seeing to how I reacted. By the time he said those words, he had already expressed grievance on his face, cursing himself for the reason why he even thought about a circumstance like that.

"You idiot! The Bow Hero here is an ally of justice! We can't just sacrifice someone as precious as—!"

"It's fine. I don't take offense to it." I chuckled lightly to brighten the mood, interrupting the mage's words. "I'm pretty important after all, so I already had a feeling it was supposed to be a joke. I thank you for the dedication though."

"Is it really fine?"

"... I actually thought about that myself," I lied. "If I killed myself, then this world would have another shot at a better cast of heroes. Though, I completely forgot that the Sword Hero and the Spear Hero would have to follow in those footsteps."

The mage companion sniffled in happiness. "Such… Greatness...! Being in your presence only motivates me to do better in my own justice!"

As the spear user passed a napkin to the mage silently, I thought about my spoken words carefully.

That's right, the King had explained to the general public that he couldn't resummon another hero in an individual packet. The four heroes must be summoned all at once and when they were present, they must all die for them to perform another summoning. Of course, the option of massacring all of us might have on the table to some people, but the King might have only been concerned about antagonizing the Shield Hero and setting him back as far as possible.

Though, the topic of death made me reminisce—or at least, attempt to—the reasons as to how I died the first time, subtracting my initial death from my original world. My hand subconsciously fell to my abdomen as I remembered the subtle emotion of severe pain gnawing at the back of my head. I was confident that I was pierced by something bright. I wouldn't know either way—it came too fast for me to register what was going on until it was too late. I think there was an equal chance for anyone present to be attacked by it, but I was the unlucky one.

What were we fighting? Who were we fighting?

I suppose it doesn't matter when the only thing I have to go off is the term 'Goddess'. It was one of the last words I heard before the world around me started to blur. That much, I can affirm.

"We still have a decent day before us," the spear user spoke. "What will be the plan of our operates, Sir Bow Hero?"

Her voice brought me back to my senses, as what she said was true. Regardless of how I was feeling about Naofumi, the trial, and my regrets, I couldn't stop and crash into a room until the world comes to a close. What type of person would I be if _this_ was all it took to push me down?

However, the world is vast outside of Castle Town, and I'll have to begin journeying outside of this perimeter. I hate to admit it, but I think I had lost my chance dwindling my thoughts rather than putting my words to action. The next opportunity might be after the end of the first wave, as I remember that the Heroes recollect themselves at the castle for a banquet or something else after each one.

However, I had to stay for at least one more night to talk to Ren about whatever he wanted to talk about.

"Let's hunt for materials for some added income," I announced. "We can get a level or two along the way, but I think I need to take it easy today."

"The Shield Hero thing is still on your mind, isn't it?" the mage asked. "You didn't know about the reputation of the Shield Heroes, so you assumed he was a good person. That's the case, right? Then it only makes sense that you need a breather."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right in a sense." I sighed. "Oh, and before I forget. You don't have to call him by 'Sir Bow Hero'. Calling me by my name is fine."

"Alright, Sir Itsuki!" the mage immediately exclaimed.

"... I guess that works."

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A few days had passed and I still remained in Castle Town. I couldn't find the will in me to travel to other places as quickly as I did in the original string of events. If I remembered correctly, I left within the same day of Naofumi's trial last time. My party members were getting restless from staying here for too long, so I needed to swallow my hesitation and leave before it could turn sour.

Though, today's profits were good and lightened the mood of the party. It was only to the thanks of one of my companions stumbling upon a nest of wild balloons, in which we slaughtered on extracted all of their materials. Alone in pieces, the income was little. However, the merchant was not expecting to buy off tens of balloon skins all at once. They were all taken with quality in mind, so that bumped up the prices a little.

I distributed the silver and copper coins among my three party members equally, but the mage had raised his eyebrows. He didn't understand why I gave myself no share of the pile, but I replied that it was my gift for the team, and I didn't need the spoils of today's work. He tried to give his half towards me, which flattered me, but I declined. Out of everyone, I took no damage from the monsters, which should say a lot about my confidence over this playing field. As long as I can keep providing constant streams of damage, I would be fine, and money wouldn't exactly help my cause in doing that.

Before I knew it, the light of the sun had begun to dim, and I dismissed the party for the night. I told them that we would meet up again at the front gates in the morning and begin our trek over to the next town. They all went their separate ways, as did I.

The people of this city had been walking up and down the streets, as the children ran playful next to each other. Some of them were playing a make-believe version of the Four Heroes, or rather it would have if there was a fourth person. A sword hero, a spear hero and a bow hero. There was no signs of any of the children desiring to be the shield hero, and it was publicly correct to purposely omit him. Despite their lack of knowledge of the true events that happened, they were perfectly content on rolling with their normal lives, conversing with their neighbours as if it was simply another day and allowing this hidden injustice to slip between their hands.

It was not my role to convince them of this error, despite my desire to. If I said anything to anybody about the inverted results of Naofumi's trial, they won't take me seriously. As I thought, the best way was to attack at the source, the root of all of this evil.

My feet took me to where the inn I stayed last night, and I saw Ren standing in front of the door, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He kept his eyes closed, but as to whether or not he notices the people walking past him was a different topic. He was generally trying to be cool, but it came off as trying too hard. It was a staple posture for any of those archetypes in media, and even if I didn't retain any knowledge from my original world, I think I would have thought the same.

It originally surprised me that Ren had been keeping his base of operations within Castle Town too, but I supposed if he didn't, he wouldn't have a reason to speak with me in the morning. It looks like Ren had been doing some digging of his own ever since his suspicions were brought up in his mind after the trial. Though, I was praying that this was the case, as Ren didn't specify what 'later' meant.

He kept his sword hidden in plain sight, transformed into the average steel sword to prevent anyone to draw their attention towards him. Our role and summonings might have been known, but it seems like our actual physical appearance hasn't found its way over to the public yet. I had the same idea as well, keeping my bow as a normal steel-framed weapon. I think Motoyasu would be the only one to flaunt his legendary spear as a means to add more women to his party. That sounds about right for the initial start of the Spear Hero.

As I took a few more steps, Ren heard my approach out of the countless citizens who were passing by. He opened to reveal his blue eyes, and turned his head slowly to meet me.

"So you came."

I nodded.

"Of course."

Ren pushed himself off the wall and turned away from the entrance. "Follow me. We can't stay in the inn to discuss our matters."

"Huh? Why? What's wrong with the inn?" I asked.

"Something is watching us," Ren said, leering his eyes back towards me. His head began to point over to possible locations as to where someone could eavesdrop, such as the roof or among the alleyways, but none provided with a clear explanation. "I don't know what since they won't show themselves even though I tried to lure them out, so it'll be better if we leave town to speak."

My head tilted. Had something slipped my mind?

"If that was the case, wouldn't it make more sense to discuss inside of the inn room? There's only so many places that they could hear from, and we don't need to talk so loudly."

"You're thinking too straightforward." His feet started to move, and I promptly trailed behind. "There's the possibility that whoever is engaged in this eavesdropping business is in relation with the kingdom. Say that they call the guards on us, and they burst into the inn, denouncing for our arrest just as they did for Naofumi. They call us criminals for conspiring against the kingdom of Melromarc and we join the ranks of Naofumi."

"If that happens, we'd have no place to escape to," I continued, assuming Ren's thought process. "Is that right?"

"The forest would be more vast, and our escape options would be greater in the open. In addition, it'll be quite difficult to hide themselves from us, as there's a certain clearing within the forest that should be enough to hide us from a distance, and yet, ensure that our conversation with not be interrupted. Inside of a room, there's too many flaws. People can easily eavesdrop against the door or the walls, and despite the limited amount of places to come from, we wouldn't be any the wiser."

Ren acted like he was trying to be three steps ahead of the kingdom, alongside his added perceptiveness. I recalled that in the castle, we never really spoke about our origins like the first timeline. We simply talked about the world and our excitements, our interests and what people our ages would mostly talk about. However, we never talked about our last memories before we were summoned. It simply never came to that point.

For Naofumi, he should have been simply reading a book until the summoning happened. For Motoyasu, he was killed by two girls that were in love with him. For me, I was killed by a truck that took a fateful turn on a rainy day. For Ren—

"This might not be relevant, but I'm curious." That feeling of ambiguity came back to my chest, constricting my breaths. It was as if the world didn't want me to ask the question, but I held through the uneasiness. "What were your last memories before you were summoned? For me, I got hit by a truck."

"By a truck? I guess death was our catalyst to be summoned, just like some of those novels I've been hearing about online." Ren didn't bother to look back at me as he spoke the words that would have shook me to the ground.

"For me, _I got pushed off a building_."

My jaw was held opened. I froze, and Ren noticed my stillness. He turned around with his hand on his hip.

"_Pushed_…? _Pushed off a building?_"

"The school I was at had a hostage situation by terrorists," he explained. "I was in the hallway with my friend when the lockdown started, and we were rather unlucky to come face-to-face with an armed man. I managed to pull the man's attention away to have my friend escape, but I ended up on the roof as a result. I gave my attempt at disarming the man, but I was unsuccessful and I got thrown off the building. I must have landed on my neck or something and died instantly, since they wasn't much pain that I could remember."

For Ren, it _should have been_ accidentally coming across a murder scene, and giving his life to get his friend to safety. He would have been stabbed to death from the sounds of it, and the incident took place at a street corner since they were coming home from school or going to school. Either way, Ren's depiction of his death was not the same as I remembered it to be.

Was I wrong? Did Naofumi _really_ looked into a book, and the next thing he knew, he was in Melromarc? Was Motoyasu _truly_ here because the girls who loved him had also stabbed him to death? I started to doubt my memory.

"That's…"

"It's fine." Ren shrugged off my confusion and disbelief for all the wrong reasons. "As long as my friend made it out, I would consider it to be worth. Without my death, I would have never been able to experience this world."

"Y-You're…"

"I'm already treating this world to second-nature. It's very akin to virtual reality games that I've played and all I had to do was transfer that mindset over to be effective."

"I…"

"We should get moving," Ren said, beckoning me as he turned around and continued his path. "I've already scouted a decent place at a safe distance away where we could talk, though we'll have to make one more look around just to be safe."

"Why are you trusting me?"

I didn't know where that question came from, but it might have been from my own sudden mistrust. The fact that I felt like I didn't know who Ren was frightened me, and I redirected that fear back onto myself. Ren had been someone who always liked fighting alone, but it didn't mean that he didn't believe a single soul and what they said based off suspicions. That would have been Naofumi's cynicism from the trial onwards. It fitted more if I asked Naofumi such a question, but not Ren.

He didn't bother stopping to talk, as he merely glanced behind and spoke.

"Don't misunderstand. I don't trust you, since I do feel like you're hiding something from me. However, you're the lesser of two possible evils right now, and you've showed at least a willingness to listen to what I have to say by showing up. Therefore, I ask for some cooperation."

Even compared to the Ren that I knew late into the timeline, he was too mature. What was exactly going on here? Did I not travel back in time and only that?

_What exactly is going on?_

"Fine," I said quietly. "Let's go."

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* * *

We came to the northern part of the forest that resided near the castle, though Ren was determined to bring him as far as possible. It would seem like he _really_ didn't want to get cornered. He told me that I should investigate towards the river, and make my way back, reporting to him if I saw any figures. He figured that only a few people would be out in the forest this late at night. He said something about a mechanic of where the monsters become stronger during the night, which deters adventurers and people from exiting the town. The reasoning was that for more effort, you'll get the same experience and same amounts of drops.

We went our assigned ways, and I eventually came over to the crystal, clear waters, flowing down the stream. I paused, distracted by the fish that swam past, as I followed it visually. Downstream, the river had split into two paths, and the fish allowed the directional flow to take it instead of taking the smaller path. However, it was as if the fish changed its mind and it began to swim against the current, then swapped over despite how that little hesitation in choice caused it to put in a bit more time and effort.

The moon was reflecting against the waters, clear as the morning sun. I wouldn't say that I'm a fan of nature, but something about this scenery is putting me at ease, as the night's gentle breeze empowered that feeling. It had almost come to the point where I almost forgotten why I arrived here.

Then I heard a scream.

It was the scream of a little girl.

I knew that Ren told me to alert him the moment I notice another person in the vicinity, but no one just randomly screams in the middle of the nightly forest. I pivoted on my feet, and dashed towards the voice. My instincts were to save those that needed the help. I _needed_ that to be my primal instincts, with no second intentions to consume me.

This would be a great opportunity to see if I've grown or not.

If I save this girl without needing to make myself superior, then I would know if I truly ascended from my previous self.

The screams got closer, as I saw a small light coming from a few paces. It must have been a campfire that was prepared, and monsters must have discovered it. I ran closer and closer until the flames were visible, and without trying a single glance, my words fell out.

"Hey! Are you alright—!?"

My voice stopped.

My body stopped.

My heart stopped.

The familiar figure held someone small in his arms, rubbing her head and trying to silence her—_no, not silence. He was only trying to calm her down._

I gulped.

I shivered.

I didn't want to do this so soon.

The black-haired man noticed my stares and turned to face me, with the brown-haired child in his hands. She was someone that looked way too familiar.

"Itsuki," the man snarled. The kind expression that I've seen on him doesn't even look like it was an emotion he knew of anymore. "What the _hell _are you doing here?"

"N-Naofumi…"

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**Afterword**

Okay, one month passed since the last update. Pretty lackluster one too, so sorry about that.

The complex reasoning is a combination of personal affairs, other things I needed to tend to, and the nature of this story. You see, after I finished writing "The Raven Invader", I realized something. I like writing fight scenes. I _really_ like writing fight scene, and if you haven't realized, "Recourse of the Bow Hero" doesn't have many fight scenes, nor will it have much of it in the future.

My own writing for this story is starting to claw at my head, and it might take a while to get into the rhythm of things again. By the way, when I realized it's been almost a month since the last update, I cranked out this chapter in a day. Now, that doesn't seem like a lot, but I'm a really slow writer, so it's a lot for me.

Before I forget, this upcoming confrontation was brought to by _Qinlongfei_. Thanks _Qinlongfei_, for giving me this idea that would have otherwise been a slipped opportunity.

Oh, and the simple reason? I've fallen into the Nier franchise and I can't get out. Please send help, my heart won't stop hurting._ Yoko Taro_, why?

Okay, back into the dungeons I go. Hopefully I can find the might within myself to get another chapter out within the next month.

Something something I'm actually pretty lazy to write it something something.

**EDIT :** I included the few days worth of time-skip to incorporate the one week space between the trial and meeting Raphtalia.


	7. What I Can Do

**Chapter Seven : What I Can Do**

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_The battle had been decided, and the victory went to the Spear Hero. Applause roared the room, having their favoured hero secure the win over the hero that nobody favoured. The world around him had started to collapse as the wager goes to the victor. The nobles and spectators whispered and clamored as the preparations were in check, as the two of us watched from the balcony above, reserved for the Cardinal Heroes._

"_You saw that too, right?"_

_It completely unbelievable how the king allowed such an action to pass. None of the audience made an attempt to bring up the disruption that decided the match in favour of the Spear Hero. The Shield Hero was obviously flanked by a stray magic attack, whether or not it was intentional. The fact that the King didn't say anything about that was somewhat odd, as he poured the blame onto Naofumi's attempt to weasle himself out of the fight. None of the nobles or any of the spectators were going to say anything after that declaration. Some of them were unsure as to what they would say if they would speak up, but the audience ultimately went silent on that topic, concerning themselves with the results of the fight._

"_Does it even make a difference if we say anything?" my fellow hero spoke. "Besides, we shouldn't be trying to help out criminals. It'll look bad on us."_

_He had a point. Naofumi had been a criminal in the eyes of Melromarc for his attempt at sexual assault against his first companion. It only made sense that Motoyasu would be wary of Naofumi's new companion, especially after hearing that she was his slave. Though, that assumption would have been a pleasant wish. I would say that it was more of the lustful emotion that Motoyasu had been harboring, considering his current harem of females in his party._

_It's kinda sad. Does the guy even realize that at least half of them aren't in it to be with him, but for the money and status? I'm leaning on the side of no. He had been smiling triumphantly over an enemy that didn't have a means of attacking, focusing on trying to pull out enough gimmicks to make the Spear Hero surrender. Every attack up to the point of interruption had been properly dealt with by Naofumi, showing that his strength isn't as what he thought it was._

_Honestly, if I was in Motyasu's place, I would have ended the battle in a few minutes, but that was only due to his high defenses. The way that Motoyasu was going with brute strength, he would have ran out of SP before Naofumi did, leaving him at a greater disadvantage. Defense-oriented classes were garbage, but if I have to say anything in their defenses, the cost for their skills were relatively lower and their SP pool was much greater. The best Naofumi could possibly commit for was a stalemate._

_We watched as they held the slave back, so that they made preparations to remove the slave crest. They didn't even bother trying to move Naofumi off the battlefield, letting him be bent over with his face just above the ground. His fist were crunched up and shivering, but I'd say it was out of hatred more than anything._

_So, he was angry that the slave was being released? It might have been true that he wanted to try something with her after all. That manipulation spell might have been undone once the slavery binding disappeared, but as I thought about the accusation that led to the slave's mouth to be covered by a rag throughout the entire fight, something started to mismatch._

_How come someone, whose only boon is defense, has access to something as strong as mind manipulation? Did it have to do something with the slave mark directly? If that was the case, then the country would be a shitshow over the monopoly of this accessible magic. Whether it's for evil or not, something like mind manipulate is too overpowered. And if it did have to do something with the Cardinal Heroes, why didn't I unlock something as strong as that yet? There are definitely uses that I could figure out with that, but it landed on Naofumi instead._

_Something about that accusation was wrong._

_I leered over to my fellow hero, to see the reaction on his face as the crest on the slave's chest began to disappear during the ceremony. He looked pleased to see Naofumi be put in his spot, and I had to admit, there was something enjoyable about poetic justice being served._

_As the crest faded away, the soldiers released her and something surprised everyone as the next few seconds unfolded. Both of us were in shock, widening our eyes once it happened._

_The slave slapped Motoyasu cleanly across the face, as tears were driven across his eyelids._

_She wasn't crying out of happiness of being freed. It was the opposite. She didn't have the intention to be freed from the crest at all, but that wasn't all that the tears were wept for. _

_After the slave and Motoyasu finished talking, with the slave getting the last word in, she started to walk towards the solitude of Naofumi. She tore down the invisible barrier that people dared not to cross and came closer to him. Naofumi was scared of her initially, backing up and even pushing her aside, but she ultimately won. She embraced him, crying out harder._

"_... Hey. Do you really think that slave is brainwashed?"_

"_... If it is, then it's one hell of an act. It's sincere, as far as I'm aware at least."_

"_To think that Naofumi was able to find someone that is willing to be by his side, despite his notoriety. I honestly don't care who or how the two of them met, but I suppose the results of the match is clear now."_

_As Naofumi extended outwards to hold her back, finding himself in similar tears, it was time to make our entrance while everyone was distracted by the scene. It was time to privately inform Motoyasu about his loss, whether he knew it or not._

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**「****Memory Fragment Recovered****亅****  
****「****Resurgence of Recollection Successful****亅**

It happened again, and my body was trembling to a greater extent. The girl that was now sleeping on the ground again and the girl in that memory… It was hard to believe they were the same person, but the back-and-forth nature that my mind had been undergoing made me confused on what I should be trying to do. That begged the question though.

What the hell triggered _that _memory!? Besides from my first sight of Raphtalia, there was nothing that could have correlated the two events, like that one memory with Malty! I didn't even know what Raphtalia looked like in her child-like form! It was only because of the memory that I was able to piece the two faces together as one!

I wanted to help Naofumi, and being alone with him was the perfect opportunity to reveal my true intentions, but this recollection came out of left field and it started to mess with my words quite a bit.

As Naofumi watched for any sudden movements, his expression had snarled at me with a severe influence in check. He disliked trusting people, and he really didn't like being around the other Cardinal Heroes. After such an unfair trial, he had no reason to trust Motoyasu, Ren, or me. In his eyes, we were just like the poison that was Melromarc's king, and nothing else.

"What _else_ do you want to take from me? Or do you want to revel in my misery?" The snarl in Naofumi's voice was hostile. I knew that Naofumi could only play on the defensive, but that wasn't what I was scared about. I wanted to be careful with my words during this conversation, but I was in no state to do it.

"T-That's not it, Naofumi. I just… I just heard a scream while I was around here, and…"

"And what? Are you going to try and take her away from me? Are you going to say that I'm doing something to her!?"

"T-That's…"

"Like hell I am If you want her, it'll be over my dead body. I paid all of my earned money for this slave, and I'm going to use her to get out of the shithole you three sent me into."

The reasoning for that fight between Naofumi and Motoyasu was over Raphtalia, who Motoyasu took as a slave against her will. Ren and I saw the aftermath of the situation and we became convinced that Raphtalia was with him out of his free will, though we were still believing in the fact that he was guilty for the previous crime.

If I never met Naofumi here, I would have completely forgot that Naofumi was all by his lonesome for the next period of time. With no one to turn to, the money that he earned had blood and sweat poured into them. Pounding away at the monsters would have been no easy feat, but I wondered if Naofumi had already discovered the technique of using monsters as part of his attack power. I was only reminded of the old fighting style thanks to the recovered memory, where he unleashed its might onto Motoyasu.

Perhaps if Naofumi hadn't discovered this style yet, I could give him the idea in exchange for some amount of trust.

"Naofumi, there are things that I shouldn't be telling you—"

"What else is new?"

"—but I could try and help you out—"

"Don't take another step closer!"

As I tried to close the gap unconsciously, Naofumi's arm tossed itself underneath his cloak, causing me to realize that I lost my only bargaining chip into his domain. I halted my inadvertent approach the moment he snarled. I didn't realize how aggressive Naofumi was, especially towards the other Cardinal Heroes. That was to be expected, since we had abandoned him at the trial.

… Man, seeing Naofumi like this makes my tongue taste sour. Getting him to trust me is difficult, but considering the circumstances, I don't think it's even possible.

_We were the ones that sent Naofumi into his uneased self_. _Ren, Motoyasu and myself… We were all guilty of sending an innocent man into his despair, one so deep that he began to close his innocent heart off. _

It was one thing to hear about his hardships before we became united, but it was another thing to see it before my eyes. It was terrible. Was this the justice that I previously wanted to seek out?

A rustling noise came off our side, as both of our attentions were drawn to it. Out of the bushes, a few balloon monsters had jumped out. They were probably attracted to Raphtalia's screaming.

… _Wait, why was she screaming anyways?_

It didn't matter now. Naofumi prepared his shield out of a reflex, but I hadn't been too worried about them. They were merely balloons after all. I neatly shot arrows at each of them, defeating all of them with ease. A few of them needed multiple shots, since my stats were nerfed back to baseline as I returned, but landing a critical shot was good enough to almost kill them in one blow. I didn't even move away from where I was standing, shooting like some sort of turret. They didn't grant me any experience since Naofumi was in the area, and to an extent, Ren might be nearby too. I honestly don't remember the range on that limit.

Naofumi simply stayed still as I kept them away, gritting his teeth as if he didn't like my assistance.

Hated or not, I didn't realize that being mad removed any sense of gratefulness.

"... You're not going to say thanks or anything? If I let you alone with them, you would probably be dealing with them until the morning."

"Like I have any reason to thank you."

_Yeah, that's fair. _

I could kinda understand this version of Naofumi. As hatred blinded him, I was blinded by my justice, even going as far to hurt those who didn't need to be hurt and trust those who shouldn't have been trusted.

… _Yeah, but you could still be grateful for saving your time_.

I decided to suppress my urge to say that. I shouldn;t be making things worse with Naofumi as it already was. I tried to turn back to what I wanted to tell Naofumi originally. However, I thought it would have been more effective if I demonstrated with actions rather than words.

Words can deceive people, after all.

I took out some of my coins and tossed the bag towards Naofumi. He instinctively caught it as I turned around. It was going to be much easier if I spoke to Naofumi like this, where he didn't have the same luxury of throwing a bag into my hands.

"What are you doing?" he growled at me. "I don't want your damn money."

"It's not mine."

It actually was, but I couldn't think of another way to vaguely give him money directly. He'd thrown his pouch of coins at Motoyasu, so he couldn't have had a lot on him.

"Look, just listen, alright? I don't need any responses from you. It may have looked like I was acting against you in the trial, but it was only through the spur of the moment. I want to believe that you're innocent, Naofumi." Well, I already know that, but still. "That's why I'm going to try and find out the truth." Which I already knew about to some degree. "I'm not asking you to be involved in anything I do. I only wanted to let you know what I was going to be up to over the next few days."

"... What? Do you still expect me to trust you?"

_Alright, this was getting slightly frustrating._

I knew that Naofumi had trust issues, but damn it! What even is this extent!?

_Don't get mad, Itsuki. He has a valid reason to be mad. He has a valid reason to not trust anyone. Just telling keep reminding yourself about that, Itsuki. You owe him for helping you out in the future, after he put up with all of my shenanigans over those past few months._

_**Just pretend that you don't have any emotional weight to this specific problem**_.

… Huh?

Why did that seem familiar…?

I shook my head to chase away those random thoughts as I took my steps away from Naofumi and the dormant Raphtalia.

"Anyways, you should use that money wisely this time around. Don't go throwing it towards Motoyasu again, alright?"

I wanted to keep myself limited with how much I interacted with Naofumi. He definitely wasn't in the right state of mind now, and perhaps maybe that duel, he'd be in a better position to hear me out. That was, if I didn't get to the King first.

If I brought him the King's head, than he'd definitely be forced to trust me.

However, as I left the standing Naofumi and the dormant Raphtalia behind me, I could hear some sort of some mumbling underneath his breath. It was probably him cursing me inaudibly for trying to get close to him, all so I could backstab him. That was far from it though, but I wouldn't mind his thoughts to lay themselves out like that. It'll be changed soon enough, and I'll be able to bring Naofumi back into the ranks of Cardinal Heroes.

I didn't look back, returning to where Ren had took me to meet up.

…

…

"_I didn't throw my money at Motoyasu though… How would I have bought the slave then…?_"

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…

…

**「****Error****亅****  
****「****Skill Failed****亅**

A pulsation rang at my head, as if I was trying to remember something. Like a fleeting dream, it disappeared in the next moment, leaving me to wonder what just happened. It felt like I passed a few minutes in the span of a single second. Ever since I was summoned to this world, I've been receiving these gnawing feelings at the back of my head. It happened once during the first morning in the castle, and once again when the adventurers were assigning themselves to the Cardinal Heroes.

There was a tap on my shoulders suddenly. I assumed that it was the presence of the being that was shadowing us, but when I turned around, nobody had been there. There wasn't even a sign of life anywhere, human or monster. Now that I thought about it, it didn't feel _proper_. It was like one of those instances where other people could tickle you while it was impossible to tickle yourself. Though, I never recalled myself tapping my own shoulder.

Digressing aside, my head conveniently turned over to where _he_ should have been, as if that tap was supposed to warn me of something. I hated to go off my instincts without evidence, but I abandoned my sweep of the area to play check up. I was almost done, so it wasn't a big demerit.

_Something was going on with Itsuki._

That was what the voice in my head was telling me.

_The voice that sounded a lot like mine own._

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**Afterword**

… Yeah, uh… Hi.

I thought I would take this time to sneak in Chapter 7 here, but I don't know if this necessarily confirms the return of Recourse. You see, _apparently_ most of Chapter 7 had already been written. I just didn't realize that until recently. So uh, I just cleaned it off and shipped it out.

Though, it's pretty short too. I wanted to beef out the interaction between Itsuki and Naofumi, but I mean_, that's effort that I didn't have_. It accounts to only 3k words, but I thought I might as well get _something _out there.

If no one has seen the notice of the status of [Recourse of the Bow Hero], it's on my profile bios.

For those who can't be damned, tl:dr [Recourse] is going to either have a hiatus or _very_ long in-betweens for chapters for minimal results. (Only I would give 3k words to people that waited for half a year… Kinda feel like an asshle, not gonna lie…)

Anyways, sorry about that, but the full explanation is on the profile once again.


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